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New Research Reveals More Hospital and Health System C-Suites are Transforming Pharmacy Services in the Next 3-5 years
Leaders say they are turning the cost centers into revenue streams
A newly released industry survey report from Maxor, a leading pharmacy solutions company, finds that hospitals and health systems can create significant value for their patients, clinicians, and organization by transforming their pharmacy services and operations. Maxor commissioned Sage Growth Partners to independently recruit and survey 78 executives and pharmacy leaders at hospitals and health systems in Q2 of 2024.
With healthcare costs projected to continue rising in 2025 and beyond and talent shortages taxing hospital pharmacy services, today’s hospital and health system C-suites are closely examining multiple ways to streamline operations, drive efficiencies, and generate additional revenue sources. The new report, Hospital Leaders Are Transforming Pharmacy Services from Cost Centers to Revenue Streams: Opportunities & Obstacles, brings to light where health systems are failing to capitalize on value creation opportunities within their pharmacies.
“Our research shows that those traditional ways of thinking are changing. The survey findings show that nearly two-thirds of responding organizations plan to expand pharmacy services by opening new sites but it’s challenging to effectively do that work alone,” said Mike Ellis, CEO of Maxor National Pharmacy Services. “This research underscores how working with a strategically aligned pharmacy partner can unlock clinical and financial value for health systems.”
The biggest risk health system leaders face is not taking action to transform pharmacy services into strategic assets. “The risks of inaction are clear: suboptimal and underutilized pharmacy assets, avoidable prescription leakage, fragmented patient care, poor clinical outcomes, increased readmissions, and channel competition with large, vertically integrated vendors,” said Joel Wright, President of Maxor’s Pharmacy Services. “Our research illustrates the power of partnering to develop integrated pharmacy strategies supported by an ecosystem of care that creates value for the organization and improves adherence rates and health outcomes for patients.”
This research also shows the undeniable power of pharmacy solution-specific partnerships. Seventy-two percent of surveyed health systems that have aligned with external pharmacy services partners expressed that they capitalize well on revenue generation opportunities – compared to just 32% that do not work with an external partner.
“Leaders should also focus on identifying the revenue and cost savings opportunities that exist at their current sites,” said Dan D’Orazio, CEO of Sage Growth Partners. “Addressing gaps in patient care and unmet partnership potential could easily drive increased cost savings and more efficient, effective revenue capture.”
Other key findings of the report include:
- 62% of survey respondents said that their organization plans to expand pharmacy services through the opening of new sites
- 29% of those surveyed indicated they are “very confident” to meet the demand of pharmacy services over the next three to five years
- Fewer than one-third (28%) of survey respondents said that their health system currently has real-time data to support a detailed understanding of script leakage and three quarters (73%) expressed interest in leveraging data to gain those insights
- 50% of respondents either don’t know their organization’s pharmacy capture rate or report that it is under 30% – indicating substantive opportunities for improvement
The full market report and survey can be found here.
