National Patient Safety Foundation Announces Platinum Sponsor at Upcoming Conference

[Ma Npsf/Mckesson via BizWire]

NPSF Patient Safety Congress 2004

National Patient Safety Foundation Announces Platinum Sponsor at Upcoming Conference; McKesson Corporation Lends Support to Nation's Premier Patient Safety Event
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MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2004--The National Patient
Safety Foundation (NPSF) announced McKesson Corporation is lending its
support to the 6th Annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress as a Platinum
sponsor. McKesson Corporation, the world's largest healthcare services
and information technology company, is dedicated to helping its
customers deliver high-quality healthcare by streamlining processes,
reducing costs and improving the quality and safety of patient care.
"McKesson pioneered key patient safety technologies such as
computer-generated medication administration records, point-of-care
bar code scanning and robotic drug dispensing," said David Lawrence,
M.D., retired Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Foundation and NPSF Congress
Co-Chair. "We are particularly pleased to have them as a partner for
the NPSF Congress."
The Congress will be held on May 3-7, 2004, at Hynes Convention
Center, in Boston, Mass. The NPSF Congress's theme "Let's Get On With
It!" emphasizes NPSF's commitment to move patient safety research into
practice. Leaders in the patient safety movement -- patients, family
members, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, risk managers, educators,
researchers, legislators, manufacturers, and administrators -- will
spend five days participating in more than 80 sessions along ten
tracks. The plenary sessions and workshops will highlight effective
implementations of policies and programs that result in cultural
change and sustained improvement in clinician behavioral patterns.
"The key to adoption of patient safety practices is commitment
from the organization's senior leadership and a culture that supports
safety as a top priority," said Mary Beth Navarra, R.N., M.B.A,
director, medication safety, at McKesson. "By supporting the NPSF in
this important effort, we hope to share our expertise with healthcare
executives about the many benefits of a comprehensive patient safety
initiative."

-- Congress sponsors include: McKesson, Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ - HHS), Eli Lilly & Co., Kaiser
Permanente, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Wyeth, Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital
Boston, Health Care Dimensions Hospice, Massachusetts
Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, MGH/MGPO -
Massachusetts General Hospital/ Massachusetts General
Physicians Organization, MHA - Massachusetts Hospital
Association, Tufts Heath Plan, Massachusetts Medical Society,
Partners HealthCare, Risk Management Foundation, Anthem Blue
Cross/Blue Shield, Johnson & Johnson, HSNE.

For up-to-date information on the Congress, visit
www.npsf.org/congress. Media interested in covering the Congress,
please contact Shawn Taylor Zelman at (703) 506-3280, sze...@npsf.org
for registration information.

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), is a Fortune 16 healthcare
services and information technology company dedicated to helping its
customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs,
streamlining processes and improving the quality and safety of patient
care. Over the course of its 170-year history, McKesson has grown by
providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across
the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals,
physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy
automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to
improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit
www.mckesson.com.

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to improving patient safety and reducing
medical errors by funding research and raising awareness with
hospitals, healthcare systems, doctors, and nurses and the patients
and families they serve. Having worked for seven years to make patient
safety a national priority, the NPSF is working with the healthcare
industry to find affordable ways through research and education to
reduce medical errors and to improve the quality of the nation's
healthcare. The NPSF was founded in 1996 and incorporated in 1997 by
the American Medical Association, CAN HeatlhPro, and 3M, with
significant support from the Schering-Plough Corporation. For more
information, visit www.npsf.org.