ISMP President Dr. Rita Jew to Retire in Mid-2027 Following Landmark Career in Medication Safety
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and ECRI announced that Dr. Rita K. Jew, PharmD, MBA, BCPPS, FASHP, President of ISMP, will retire from her role in mid-2027.
Dr. Jew has served as ISMP's President since 2022, overseeing one of the most respected and mission-critical organizations in medication safety. Her retirement follows a distinguished career that spans more than three decades at the intersection of clinical pharmacy, healthcare operations, and patient safety advocacy.
"Rita Jew has been an exceptional leader and a steadfast champion for patients," said Dheerendra Kommala, MD, Chief Medical Officer of ECRI. "Under her leadership, ISMP has continued to set the standard for medication safety practice in the United States and beyond. We are grateful for her service and excited to celebrate her legacy."
ISMP’s error reporting program and unique resources for healthcare providers and consumers have drawn national attention to medication safety problems, offered new ways of thinking, and inspired innovation. In the last five years, under Dr. Jew’s leadership, ISMP has:
- Secured numerous medication product changes to improve safety, significantly impacting standards and industry guidance on naming, labeling, and packaging
- Generated vaccination error reports following analysis of thousands of reported incidents
- Awarded an FDA contract to support medication error prevention nationally
- Published biannual Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals and initiated the publication of biannual Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Community Pharmacy in 2023
- Established an ISMP Specialty Pharmacy Medication Safety Membership and bolstered the ISMP Medication Safety Membership into an all-encompassing medication safety community
- Developed the first ever community pharmacy medication error reporting program for California
- Flagged high alert medication errors, identifying alarming trends that emerged in ISMP data and through ISMP partnerships, such as common medication errors with GLP-1 therapies
- Awarded Just Culture scholarships to healthcare providers who embraced the hallmarks and impact of fostering a just culture in healthcare.
Dr. Jew joined ISMP as Vice President of Operations before being appointed President. Prior to
ISMP, she held senior leadership positions at UCSF Health, Children's Hospital of Orange County, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she built deep expertise in clinical pharmacy operations and patient safety systems.
ISMP, an ECRI company, remains the nation's leading nonprofit organization devoted to medication safety. ISMP guidance, educational resources, and error-reporting programs are used by hospitals, health systems, regulatory agencies, and clinicians across the country and internationally.
"The work we do at ISMP has never been more important," said Dr. Jew. "Medication errors continue to harm patients every day. I am enormously proud of what our team has built, and I have every confidence in ECRI and ISMP's future. The mission is strong, the team is exceptional, and I look forward to watching this organization continue to lead the way to reducing preventable harm." ECRI has initiated a search for Dr. Jew's successor. Dr. Jew will remain in her role through mid-2027 to support a smooth transition.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is the nation's first nonprofit organization devoted entirely to preventing medication errors. ISMP's resources are used by healthcare providers, regulatory agencies, and patients to improve the safety of medication use throughout all healthcare settings. ISMP is part of ECRI, a global nonprofit organization improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings.
Contact: Renee Brehio, ECRI PR & Communications Specialist, rbrehio@ecri.org