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Talk to any health system pharmacist and they will tell you how they find themselves at the epicenter of change. Operationally, they’ve been adopting automation and technology to help drive efficiencies and reduce errors. Clinically, pharmacy staff are being asked to take a larger role in patient care and to lean in to help alleviate nursing shortages. They also have to identify and source clinically appropriate drugs when shortages occur–and they happen a lot!
Additionally, pharmacy has become a financial focal point, often representing the second largest expense in health systems, behind only staffing costs. Programs like 340B and Specialty Pharmacy have become significant revenue drivers. All of this is happening while pharmacies continue to battle workforce burnout and a scarcity of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
The pharmacy industry is at a turning point–but it may finally be getting powerful new tools to help navigate these changes.
The Old Challenges of Health System Purchasing
If there’s one thing health system pharmacies don’t lack, it’s data. They’re inundated with information but historically, harnessing that data has been a struggle,especially when it comes to pharmacy purchasing and supply chain insights. Many pharmacies rely on piecemeal reports from various sources (e.g. wholesalers ,GPOs, finance, homegrown spreadsheets), leaving them with a fractured and possibly incomplete picture of their purchasing landscape.
The result? Pharmacy directors and procurement teams spend countless hours manually comparing options, verifying contracts and placing orders every day.
Without a comprehensive solution, even the best purchasing strategies often fall short—not because they aren’t sound, but because executing them is too difficult, complex and time-consuming.
How Health Systems Are Innovating Their Purchasing
The good news? Those days are fading fast. Cutting-edge pharmacy purchasing technology is eliminating the need for manual data analysis and giving health systems a real-time, holistic view of their options.
Instead of cross-referencing multiple catalogs and spreadsheets, a unified purchasing management platform centralizes all purchasing data in one place. Health system pharmacies can instantly compare pricing and availability across vendors, track contract compliance and make informed decisions at the point of purchase. No more guesswork. No more time-consuming manual processes.
Less Paperwork, More Patient Care
While cost savings and efficiency gains are crucial, the real game-changer is the impact on pharmacy teams. Staff shortages remain a major challenge, and the last thing pharmacists need is to spend hours buried in procurement tasks.
By automating and streamlining purchasing processes, pharmacists and technicians can focus on what truly matters—patients. Instead of navigating complex purchasing workflows, they can dedicate their time to more important and enjoyable work. A pharmacy that runs efficiently isn’t just good for the bottom line—it’s better for patients and essential for staff retention and overall job satisfaction.
A New Era of Pharmacy Purchasing
The transformation of health system pharmacy purchasing isn’t just about new tools—it’s about a fundamental shift in how the industry operates.
Consider the disruptions happening right now:
- Drug manufacturers selling directly to health systems.
- The rise of pricing transparency, with companies like The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company making true medication costs more visible.
- A growing demand for analytics that put decision-making power in the hands of pharmacy leaders.
Now, with the right technology in place, forward-thinking pharmacy executives are taking control—optimizing procurement strategies, securing better pricing and setting new expectations for transparency and data driven decision-making.
The question is: Is your pharmacy ready to embrace the future?
Book a demo with us to see how SureCost can help you increase productivity, improve purchasing and more.
