Pharmacists and Patient Safety: Building safer care with Patients

Professor Emerita Pharmacy Practice & Administrative Sciences, University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH Marianne F. Ivey, Pharm. D., M. P. N., is Professor Emerita, James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati. She was previously Vice President for Pharmacy Services of the Health Alliance in Cincinnati and Director of Pharmacy Services at the University of Cincinnati Hospital. Prior to that, Dr. Ivey was Associate Director of Pharmacy Services at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Washington. Dr. Ivey is Vice President of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and a past president of the Hospital Pharmacy Section of FIP. She has also served FIP as Vice President for the Americas and was a key contributor to the FIP Global Conference on the Future of Hospital Pharmacy. Dr. Ivey is a Past President of ASHP, served as Chair of the ASHP House of Delegates and as ASHP Treasurer. She has served on the faculty of the ASHP Research and Education Foundation Pharmacy Leadership Academy and was a member of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation Process Oversight Committee. She is a participant in the ASHP Foundation Visiting Leaders program, is a member of the United States Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention and is past chair of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties. Dr Ivey is a member of the Advisory Boards for the University of Cincinnati Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy online master’s degree in pharmacy leadership and the Consortiex Advisory Board. Dr. Ivey was a recipient of the FIP Distinguished Pharmacy Practice Award, and she received the Harvey A. K. Whitney Lecture Award, the Donald E. Francke Medal, the Walter Frazier Leadership Award, the John W. Webb Lecture Award and is an Honorary Member of ASHP. She is a Fellow of ASHP and a Fellow of FIP. She received the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy Citation Award and the 2024 University of Washington School of Pharmacy Practice Award.

Chair of WPA Patient Safety & Quality Council, World Patients Alliance (WPA) , USA Helen Haskell is Chair, WPA Patient Safety & Quality Council and also president of the US nonprofit patient organizations Mothers Against Medical Error and Consumers Advancing Patient Safety. She is an Institute for Healthcare Improvement senior fellow and a board member of the Patient Safety Action Network and the International Society for Rapid Response Systems. She is a recently retired board member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and a previous chair of the WHO Patients for Patient Safety Advisory Group and the Patient Engagement Committee of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. She works with the World Health Organization on patient safety and patient engagement and with SIDM, AHRQ and others on diagnostic issues. Helen’s goal since the medical error death of her young son Lewis has been to enhance the patient contribution to safety and quality in healthcare. She has written or co-authored dozens of articles, book chapters, and educational materials on patient engagement in safety, quality, and diagnosis, including a co-edited textbook of case studies from the patient perspective. Her son Lewis’s story has been featured in educational programs and videos including Transparent Health’s full-length Lewis Blackman Story. Helen holds a bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies from Duke University and a master’s degree in Anthropology from Rice University in the United States.

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Purdue University; Founder and President, Hertig Healthcare Advising, LLC Dr. John Hertig is Founder of Hertig Healthcare Advising and Adjunct Faculty at Purdue University (Indianapolis, USA). Dr. Hertig lectures around the world and publishes on a variety of patient safety, leadership, administration, and health policy topics. He is an Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Medicine Access and serves as Secretariate for the Collaborative for Evidence-Based Medicines which unites diverse stakeholders to protect patient safety by encouraging use of trusted and tested medicines. Dr. Hertig is a Member of the United States Food and Drug Administration Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. He holds other national and international appointments, including with the International Pharmaceutical Federation, where he is Treasurer for the Hospital Pharmacy Section, and as Past-President of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies – Global (ASOP). Dr. Hertig received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Purdue University (USA). He completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice and PGY2 health-system pharmacy administration residency at The Ohio State University Medical Center while also obtaining a Masters degree in Health-System Pharmacy Administration from The Ohio State University (USA). He is a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), a Fellow of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (FASHP), and a Fellow of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FFIP).

Executive Director Community Health and Information Network (CHAIN), Uganda Regina Mariam Namata Kamoga is an Executive Director, for Community Health and Information Network (CHAIN) for Uganda, an organization that promotes the empowerment of people living with, and affected by, HIV and AIDS and non-communicable diseases. Ms. Kamoga works on patients’ rights, particularly the rights of persons with HIV/AIDS,TB, malaria and non-communicable diseases, and capacity building for NGOs and community based organizations on governance and policy issues, health literacy and access. Ms. Kamoga’s work involves building and strengthening networks in collaboration with other organizations at the international, national and community level to address issues of patient safety and patient-centred healthcare.

Pharmacist/Owner, Shoppers Drug Mart , Canada Mohamed Elsabakhawi is a Canadian community pharmacist and Associate-Owner of four Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies in Mississauga, Ontario, three of which operate as pharmacist-led primary care clinics providing expanded clinical services. His teams collectively dispense more than 480,000 prescriptions annually while delivering large-scale preventive care initiatives within the community pharmacy setting. Mohamed became a Certified Diabetes Educator in 2012 and has since focused on advancing pharmacist-led preventive medicine, chronic disease management, point-of-care testing, immunization delivery, travel health, and minor ailment management. His practice model emphasizes integrating preventive care and primary care services into routine pharmacy workflow to support early detection, timely intervention, and improved access to care across diverse patient populations. Under his leadership, the clinics have implemented pharmacist-led programs focused on cardiovascular risk reduction, diabetes screening, vaccine accessibility, smoking cessation, and chronic disease follow-up. These initiatives aim to improve healthcare accessibility by integrating preventive medicine into routine community pharmacy practice and identifying patients who may otherwise experience delays in accessing primary care services. His work has contributed to the development of scalable models for community-based preventive care delivery within Canadian pharmacy practice. In addition to his clinical practice, Mohamed has held leadership roles within the pharmacy profession, including serving as Vice-Chair and regional representative for more than 160 Shoppers Drug Mart Associate Pharmacy Owners in the Greater Toronto Area. He also serves on the Practice Advisory Committee for the Pharmacy Technician Program at Sheridan College. Nationally and internationally, Mohamed has shared his expertise as a speaker and panelist at conferences including Pharmacy U, PDW, OPSIS, and the FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. His work in pharmacy innovation, preventive care, and scalable healthcare delivery has been featured through practice-based quality improvement initiatives and international conference presentations.