b'1.Expanding Hospital Partnership & Clinical AccountabilityFrom the earliest days of emergency departments as accident response centers, hospitals and health systems have turned to the ED for expanded roles outside of its core function. After EMTALA was enacted, the wisdom of placing increased responsibility into the hands of the emergency department became more and more apparent. The reason was simple, but not fully appreciated: no other clinical resource provided 24/7/365 access to health care that was essentially required by law, where physicians regularly interfaced with every segment of hospital-based care. Hospitals thus turned to the emergency department for an increasing array of acute unscheduled care needs, including key service and performance measures reflected in the inpatient environment.The Evolution of the Emergency DepartmentExpanding PartneringClinicalon ValueImpact and CostIn-hospital code responseEvidence-based utilizationIn-house proceduresAvoidable readmissions Precipitous deliveriesObservation unitsEARLY EXPANDING MATURING PARTNERINGEngagingEstablishing Hospital the Specialty AccountabilitiesDedicated Dedicated departmentdepartment HCAHPS performance24/7staffing 24/7staffing HAC documentationRapid response teamsPreventativescreening (domestic abuse, etc.) Quality measures Operational measuresAt each stage in the evolution of the EDs role, hospitals and health systems have surveyed the landscape of strategic assets at their disposal and found that the ED was a natural partner. None of these additional roles were part of a grand plan to leverage the EDs unique vantage point as an interface for the systems most pressing problems. Yet, taken as a whole, its clear this evolution happened and has been sustained, for good reason.Together, we healTogether, we heal 3Together, we heal SCP HEALTHIFROM INSIGHTS TO INTERVENTIONS'