Only 20% of U.S. health care executives and pharmacy leaders have real-time visibility across care settings, leaving most organizations unprepared for looming supply chain disruptions and shortages, a new survey found.
"What this research makes clear is that the current state of pharmacy operations is not unchangeable," said Valerie Bandy, vice president of pharmacy solutions for the the health care software company Tecsys. "It is driven by limited visibility, something that health systems can correct."
Findings from the Tecsys Health System Pharmacy Supply Chain Survey show that many organizations are in effect operating without a clear, real-time view of medication demand, inventory position and emerging risk, forcing leaders to react to disruption rather than prevent it. Although most respondents say their organization is prepared to manage a major disruption, just 20% report full, real-time visibility across care settings.
Most health systems and their pharmacies still are making mission-critical decisions using manual processes or siloed systems that do not connect with each other and provide conflicting data that hides risk until it's too late. As a result, leaders often are making high-stakes decisions with delayed, partial or manually reconciled information, even as disruptions occur with increasing frequency.
These are the key findings from the survey:
- Visibility is the most critical and persistent constraint. Only 2 in 5 leaders report full, real-time visibility across care settings. The remaining 80% rely on delayed, partial or manual tracking.
- Tariff and pricing pressures are building Two-thirds are preparing for pharmaceutical tariffs by diversifying suppliers or nearshoring, and more than 8 in 10 say rising drug costs are having an impact on performance.
- Preparedness collapses under pressure. More than three-quarters are not or are only somewhat prepared for managing major disruptions, with only 23% feeling very prepared. Drug shortages remain rampant and consistently escape line of sight. Four in five say shortages caused the most disruption to their pharmacy operations in the last 12 to 24 months.
- Data readiness, not a lack of ambition. is slowing AI adoption. Only 15% report fully deployed AI or machine learning use cases for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, drug shortage prediction or risk modeling. More than one-third still are in pilot phases, while 17% currently have no plans at all.
- Pharmacy sees itself as strategic, but the C-suite doesn't. Nearly half of pharmacy leaders say their function is strategic, but only 15% of other senior leaders agree.
"The escalating visibility crisis marks an inflection point," Bandy said. "Health systems can continue to accept disruption as inevitable or invest in the insight required to anticipate and manage it. As pressures on health care delivery intensify, pharmacy's role will only expand. Whether that role is defined by constant crisis response or by strategic leadership will depend on how clearly pharmacy, and the systems it relies on, can see what lies ahead."
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