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News release: Colorado - Denver/BoulderJuly 16, 2003 For more information, call: Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy wins prestigious Pinnacle Award Denver, CO – Kaiser Permanente's commitment to quality has placed it among leading health care organizations in the country and now the Kaiser Permanente Colorado pharmacy department has been singled out as one of the best. It recently received the American Pharmacists Association Foundation's Pinnacle award. The Pinnacle awards are among the nation's highest honors for pharmacy quality. The Kaiser Permanente Colorado pharmacy was one of only three national 2003 Pinnacle award recipients. The award recognizes its innovative work in reducing drug errors, in improving patient outcomes and in increasing communication between all members of the care team. "Our department is thrilled with this national recognition. The Pinnacle award represents the profession's highest honor in quality and medication safety. This success could only be possible with the total alignment of our staff working next to physicians and nurses who specialize in patients with complex drug therapies," says Dennis Helling, pharmacy operations director. One example of the pharmacy department's outstanding work is the clinical pharmacy anticoagulation service. The team manages more than 5,600 patients who are taking blood thinners after heart surgery. The team's ability to prevent bleeding complications and hospitalizations in this high-risk population saves about 25 lives every year. Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit organization and largest private health care provider in Colorado, cares for more than 400,000 members in the Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs areas. In the Denver/Boulder area, care is provided by a coordinated team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, mental health counselors and physical therapists. In Colorado Springs, Kaiser Permanente cares for its members through an affiliated network of community-based physicians and other health care providers.
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