Although emergency medicine (EM) as a specialty practice area for pharmacists has existed since the 1970s, there has been significant growth in this area in the last 15 years. Since the first Issue of the Journal focusing on Emergency Medicine Pharmacotherapy in 2005, pharmacy services in the emergency department (ED) have expanded greatly and many health care systems now have a dedicated EM pharmacist. The role of the EM pharmacist has expanded significantly and many innovative practices have evolved throughout the country.Many factors have contributed to an increased demand for EM pharmacy clinicians, particularly concerns regarding patient safety There is no hospital setting in which medication errors are at a greater risk of occurring than in the busy, chaotic, and overcrowded environment that currently defines the majority of EDs in the United States. Concerns come from regulatory and government agencies such as the Joint Commission (JC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), organizations focused on quality and safety (eg, Institute for HealthCare Improvement (IHI)) as well as EM and Pharmacy professional societies (eg, American College of Emergency Medicine, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists).
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