Nearly three-quarters of hospital and pharmacy leaders say the urgency to address community gaps in pharmacy access has increased — and will continue to rise over the next three years. As hospitals focus to expand community-focused pharmacy services, their leaders are prioritizing chronic disease adherence, transitions of care, and 340B optimization.
Those are among the findings from a recently released survey of 100 executives and pharmacy leaders at hospitals and health systems. Pharmacy solutions partner VytlOne commissioned national health care and technology consultancy Sage Growth Partners to conduct the survey, which represented a range of health systems, integrated delivery networks, and independent community hospitals.
The report, “Reviving Access, Reclaiming Revenue: Strengthening Hospitals and Communities Through Strategic Pharmacy Expansion,” indicates how hospitals are realizing that pharmacy is no longer just a service but rather a strategic growth engine that directly impacts both patient outcomes and revenue.
“Given the increasing urgency to address widening community gaps in pharmacy access, hospital and health system leaders are prioritizing program expansion, service optimization, and workforce recruitment and retention, as well as investing in facility upgrades and digital health and IT infrastructure,” Joel Wright, president of pharmacy services for VytlOne, said in a statement. “Executives who are not strategically leveraging their pharmacy services are missing substantial opportunities to drive new revenue and achieve cost savings.”
The survey also found that 72% of health systems that have aligned with external pharmacy services partners have capitalized on revenue-generation opportunities, compared to 32% that do not work with an external partner.
Other key findings of the report:
- More than half (56%) of those surveyed rate pharmacy access in their community as only being “fair.”
- In 2025, more health system leaders reported that inpatient pharmacy services and 340B programs accounted for more than 15% of total operating income, compared to 2024.
- Almost all (97%) of hospital and pharmacy leaders agree that improving community pharmacy access can positively impact overall community health outcomes.
- Hospitals are increasing investment in internal pharmacy operations and external vendor partnerships, particularly in outpatient and specialty pharmacy services.
- Just 21% of leaders say their organization has a defined pharmacy strategy aligned with financial goals.
- More than 90% say that transforming pharmacy services can be a competitive differentiator for their hospital, but only 18% are confident they can meet pharmacy demand.
“Our research shows that hospitals have a significant opportunity to transform their pharmacy services into competitive differentiators,” said Dan D’Orazio, CEO of Sage Growth Partners. “Successfully expanding community-focused pharmacy services will require investments in new technologies and partnerships to leverage real-time data and analytics, improve capture rates, reduce script leakage and maximize contributions to overall revenue. Doing this will have a positive impact on overall community health outcomes.”
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