April 6, 2005

Planetree President, Susan B. Frampton, Invited to Participate in Discussion Panel of the Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Derby, CT: Susan. B. Frampton, Ph.D., President of Planetree, has been invited to participate in a discussion panel of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors. The committee’s aim is to produce a blueprint for system-wide change that addresses patient safety and quality of care along the medication use continuum from prescribing to dispensing, administering, and monitoring the patient for effect.

The study will cover medication use safety and quality issues across all heath care settings (i.e., hospital, ambulatory care, nursing home, and self care) as well as estimate the financial costs associated with those errors. In addition, the committee’s recommendations will include a plan for a nationwide medication error reduction and quality improvement strategy. Frampton will participate in the discussion panel that focuses on the patient-consumer perspective. In particular, Planetree’s patient-centered model for care and other programs that support medication safety. The symposium will be held on April 13-14 in Arlington, VA.

As the President of Planetree, a non-profit organization, Frampton works with a growing alliance of hospitals and health centers around the country and in Europe that have implemented Planetree’s unique patient-centered model of care. Prior to her work with Planetree, she spent over twenty years at several hospitals in the New England area. Her work focused on community education, wellness and prevention, planning, and development of integrative medicine service lines.

Frampton received both masters and doctoral degrees in medical anthropology from the University of Connecticut, and has numerous publications, including the edited collection “Putting Patients First” (Jossey-Bass Publishing, 2003) which won the ACHE Hamilton Book of the Year Award in 2004, chapters in Integrating Complementary Medicine Into Health Systems, (Aspen, 2001) and articles and interviews in Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2004), AHA News (2003), Modern Healthcare (2002), and Hospitals and Health Networks (2002).

For more information, please contact Lisa Donnarumma at ldonnarumma@planetree.org or 203-732-1377.