Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1544994
48 PHARMACY treatment options and their impact on patient outcomes. As this landscape becomes increasingly complex, adopting a total health system lens is essential to achieving optimal medication management. By taking a comprehensive, systemwide approach, we can better interpret the complexities of medication management and align our services with broader organizational goals. is alignment enables us to translate what is oen perceived as a 'foreign language' into actionable strategies that drive both clinical and operational success. At the same time, the dynamic regulatory environment — particularly related to 340B and medication reimbursement — requires careful navigation. Balancing compliance, financial stewardship, and patient care is critical to ensuring we deliver the right therapies at the right cost. Ultimately, our focus remains on optimizing patient outcomes while maintaining cost efficiency. is requires a disciplined approach to revenue capture, resource allocation, and performance improvement. By continuing to invest in measurable, data-driven strategies, we can strengthen our ability to deliver high-quality care while maximizing value across the health system. Casey Dugan, PharmD. Vice President of Pharmacy Services at Children's Hospital Colorado (Aurora): is year, we're introducing pharmacy technicians into our Care Coordination Program to better support our most medically complex pediatric patients. eir focus is simple: remove barriers to medication access, quickly surface adherence concerns, and streamline communication across acute, ambulatory, retail, and specialty pharmacy services. By tightening these handoffs, we expect to strengthen discharge planning, reduce readmissions, and curb unnecessary ED and urgent care use. Most importantly, this role enables more consistent, high-touch pharmaceutical care leading to healthier kids and a smoother experience for families. Daniel P. O'Neil, PharmD. Assistant Vice President of Pharmacy at WVU Hospitals (Morgantown, W.Va.): Like many states, West Virginia and the surrounding areas have seen our fair share of community pharmacy closures across the state over the past several years. ese closures have impacted both chain community pharmacies as well as independents. Many that stayed open, have had their hours of operation shortened or had sporadic closures due to staffing issues. WVU Medicine recognizes our patients in the community need improved access to medications and have made a commitment to patient care by expanding our mail-order and brick-and-mortar pharmacy footprint. e health-system will open four brand-new community pharmacies within the next 12 months with further expansion in the future. In addition, the current WVU Medicine Specialty Pharmacy and Home Infusion Pharmacy have outgrown their space due to continued patient care needs. WVU Medicine will open a brand-new, state-of-the-art, and expanded centralized specialty, home infusion, and mail-order pharmacy in early 2027. Aron Beugli, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy and Residency Program at Santiam Memorial Hospital (Stayton, Ore.): Santiam Hospital and Clinics is a 40-bed hospital in a rural area with limited healthcare resources. With the help of our residency program, the pharmacy department has been able to take a lead role in providing education and best practice updates to nursing, leadership, EMT and other providers. We have shown our commitment to strong interdepartmental collaboration by placing residents in areas outside of central hospital pharmacy, including primary care clinics, cardiology, hospital leadership, surgical transitions of care and the emergency department. is has earned us several opportunities to grow our pharmacy presence. Pharmacy staff now assist in many service lines within our hospital and clinic system. Recent pharmacy initiatives include: pharmacy-led refill request and authorizations via protocol into pharmacy, placing ambulatory care pharmacists into primary care clinics and opening a retail pharmacy in one of our service area cities that does not have one. Paul Green, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy Services at Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.): One of the most exciting things we're working on at WMCHealth this year is transforming Pharmacy into a more integrated enterprise service line, not just a hospital- based department. A big part of that is building the infrastructure and team needed to launch a health system-owned specialty pharmacy, while also better connecting our acute care, ambulatory, infusion, and medication access strategies. For me, this is about much more than dispensing medications; it is about improving access for patients, keeping care more connected within our system, and positioning pharmacy to contribute more directly to clinical outcomes, growth, and the long-term success of the organization. We are also working to better align clinical pharmacy services, 340B strategy, and referral pathways so Pharmacy can play a more intentional role in reducing leakage, strengthening continuity of care, and creating value across the continuum. I believe health systems that view Pharmacy as a strategic enterprise asset, rather than simply a support service, will be best positioned for the future, and that is very much the direction we are building toward at WMCHealth. Fatimah Muhammad. Director of 340B Pharmaceutical Services, Specialty Pharmacy, Drug Replacement, and ADM Pharmaceutical Services at Saint Peter's University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.): is year, I'm bringing to life an idea I've championed from the ground up , the launch of Saint Peter's University Hospital's first-ever specialty pharmacy, a multimillion-dollar initiative and the first of its kind in New Jersey. is is something I first proposed when I joined Saint Peter's, and I've advocated for it every year since because I believed deeply in its potential to transform our organization. I identified the opportunity, forged the partnership with Clearway Health, and this year it's finally becoming reality with a targeted opening in the second half of 2026. For a community hospital like Saint Peter's, standing up a specialty pharmacy means we can keep high-cost, high-touch therapies within our system, improving access for our most vulnerable patient populations while reinvesting margin back into mission- driven services. What excites me most is that this initiative sits at the intersection of clinical excellence, financial sustainability, and health equity, three pillars I believe every pharmacy leader should be building around simultaneously. At a time when the 340B program is under unprecedented scrutiny and facing proposed policy changes like the rebate model pilot, investing in specialty pharmacy infrastructure is both a strategic imperative and a statement of commitment to the communities we serve. Ron Hartman, PharmD. System Director of Pharmacy at Tanner Health (Carrollton, Ga.): Tanner Health has had a lot of growth in recent years, and our pharmacy team has been expanding to accommodate that. Last year we added pharmacy coordinators specializing in business operations, clinical operations, quality, and informatics. is year we are expanding our reach throughout the health system. We're experimenting with embedding pharmacists in ambulatory clinics, we are opening a specialty pharmacy, we are working on plans to embed pharmacists focused on transitions of care in our EDs, and we're on a journey for pharmacy to fully own medication reconciliation in every area of care. Our global med rec plans include partnering with our retail pharmacy, to tie discharge med rec with meds to beds to maximize benefits to our patients, ultimately improving patient experience, shortening length of stay,