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The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is a professional organization that represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization’s more than 40,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. For over 70 years, ASHP has been on the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety.

Mission and Vision
The mission of pharmacists is to help people achieve optimal health outcomes. ASHP helps its members achieve this mission by advocating and supporting the professional practice of pharmacists in hospitals, health systems, ambulatory care clinics, and other settings spanning the full spectrum of medication use. ASHP serves its members as their collective voice on issues related to medication use and public health. ASHP’s vision is that Medication use will be optimal, safe, and effective for all people all of the time.

History
In 1936, a subsection of hospital pharmacists was formed as part of the American Pharmaceutical Association|American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA). For the first time, hospital pharmacists had formal representation in a national organization. In 1942, ASHP, then called the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, became a distinct organization affiliated with APhA. In 1947, ASHP and APhA jointly established a hospital pharmacy division with permanent staffing. By the 1970s, ASHP became independent of AphA. Over its long history, ASHP has grown from 153 charter members to more than 40,000 members in acute and ambulatory healthcare settings today.

ASHP continues to adapt and evolve in order to meet the needs of its members. In 2005, the organization changed its name from the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists to reflect changes occurring in the hospital industry, including consolidation of healthcare facilities and diversification beyond inpatient care into ambulatory care and home care.

In 2014, ASHP changed its logo and tagline to better represent ASHP’s current mission and vision. The new logo and tagline also are designed to more effectively serve members by helping key stakeholders such as consumers, government officials, and other healthcare organizations to better understand clinical pharmacists' important patient care role.

Membership
When ASHP was founded nearly 75 years ago, its members primarily practiced in traditional hospital settings. Today, ASHP represents pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians who serve as patient care providers on healthcare teams in a wide range of ambulatory and acute care settings. ASHP has multiple Sections and Forums, which provide members who share the same practice-specific interests with specific communities in which they can access helpful resources and services and where they can share their unique issues, challenges, and ideas.

Key Initiatives
ASHP develops official professional policies, in the form of policy statements and guidelines, for all pharmacy practice settings in integrated health systems. The House of Delegates is the lead governing body for ASHP professional policies, and meets annually to review proposals that have been approved by the Board of Directors. Most professional policies are initially drafted by ASHP councils or the executive committees of membership Sections and Forums.

Another way that ASHP aspires to transform the profession is through the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI). PPMI aims to maximize the pharmacist’s role in patient care by improving healthcare team integration, leveraging pharmacy technicians, promoting pharmacist credentialing and training, encouraging the appropriate use of technology, and taking leadership in medication use.

ASHP also is committed to helping pharmacy residencies refine their programs, assisting prospective programs with the process of seeking accreditation, and making it as easy as possible for prospective residents to find the best residency programs for them. ASHP offers many tools and resources related to residencies, including a pharmacy residency directory; PhORCAS (Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service), an online tool that streamlines the residency recruitment process; and PharmAcademic, a new online tool to support the evaluation of residents and to provide documentation of a systems-based approach to training for ASHP-accredited residencies.

Awards
Some of ASHP's many awards and recognition programs for excellence in pharmacy practice include:
 * ASHP Fellows
 * Award of Excellence
 * Best Practices Award
 * Board of Directors Award of Honor
 * Clinical Skills Competition
 * Francke Medal
 * Harvey A.K. Whitney Award
 * John W. Webb Lecture Award
 * Distinguished Leadership Award

Advocacy
ASHP has a long tradition of helping give pharmacists a voice in public policy. Today, the Society advocates on every front for the issues its members care about most. Staff regularly reach out to Congress, federal regulators, state legislatures, state boards of pharmacy, quality organizations, and other healthcare organizations. Top advocacy priorities are:
 * Provider Status--Gaining reimbursement for pharmacists’ patient care services.
 * Quality and Safety--Improving outcomes and addressing crucial practice issues such as drug shortages and sterile compounding.
 * Workforce Issues--Expanding funding and accreditation for pharmacy residency programs and promoting pharmacy technician training, certification, and registration.

Educational Meetings
ASHP hosts many national and local level meetings, conferences, and specialty courses each year, including the largest gathering of pharmacists in the world. Some of ASHP’s annual educational meetings include:
 * Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition
 * Summer Meetings and Exhibition
 * Conference for Leaders in Health-System Pharmacy

Publications

 * American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy
 * AHFS Drug Information Book
 * Handbook on Injectable Drugs
 * Best Practices for Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy

ASHP Foundation
The ASHP Research and Education Foundation is the philanthropic arm of ASHP. It was created in 1968 to encourage advancement of the science of hospital and institutional pharmacy. The Foundation offers research grants, traineeships, awards, lectures, workshops and other programs that assist and recognize pharmacists providing care to patients in our nation’s hospitals and health systems and help lead to optimal medication outcomes.