Rita Shane started her career at Cedars-Sinai in 1978 as a pharmacist in pediatrics. She has steadily advanced in the Pharmacy Department and more than 40 years later remains committed to making medications safe for patients. Dr. Shane is also assistant dean in Clinical Pharmacy Services at the University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Shane has served on numerous professional committees, including the ASHP Council on Administrative Affairs, Commission on Goals, Women in Pharmacy Leadership Steering Committee and was Chair of the Pharmacy Practice Management Advisory Group. She was listed as one of the “50 Experts Leading the Field of Patient Safety,” in the Becker Hospital Review. She has been honored by ASHP as an Honorary Member and is a recipient of the Harvey A.K. Whitney Award, the Distinguished Leadership Award and the John Webb Lecture Award for Management Excellence. She currently serves on the California Hospital Association Medication Safety Committee. Dr. Shane has also represented ASHP on the American Hospital Association Health Professions Committee, the National Quality Forum Patient Safety Advisory Committee and the Joint Commission Hospital Professional Technical Advisory Committee.
In addition to her work, Dr. Shane has over 100 publications to her credit, has been an investigator in several medication safety research studies and has made over 200 presentations at local, state, national and international meetings. Dr. Shane recently co-authored legislation (which has since become a law) requiring hospital pharmacists throughout California to obtain medication lists for high-risk patients when they check in and again when they go home.
