Despite advances in pharmacotherapy, problems with medication use are now well recognized and are considered a public health problem.
Injury resulting from the use of medications is the most common form of adverse medical events.
These events are estimated to result in the death of more than 100,000 patients per year, making adverse drug events the fifth leading cause of death after heart disease, cancer, stroke and accidents. It has been estimated that between a third and half of adverse drug events are preventable. Thus, there is both a great need and an opportunity to improve the safety of medication use. Medication use is not only a high risk component of health care, but virtually every patient within the health care system is treated with drugs. It is also a complex process, with dozens of steps involving many care givers functioning in different professional roles.