Financial pressures, operational complexity and shifting market dynamics: These challenges are no surprise to pharmacy professionals, but what about tactics to mitigate their impact and stand out from the competition?
SureCost’s annual Smarter Purchasing Survey collects real-world insights and strategies from a nationwide cohort of pharmacies. We use that information to identify how pharmacies perform in five strategic procurement areas. The survey highlights how pharmacies are performing in relation to their peers and the purchasing practices that distinguish them in terms of patient care, operational efficiency, and profitability.
This blog post previews some key findings from the latest survey data. You can take part in the next survey and see how your pharmacy stacks up by taking the 2025 Smarter Purchasing Survey.
Surveying the Industry’s Biggest Challenges
There’s a wide range of challenges facing all of the individual pharmacies surveyed. Still, across the board, survey participants pointed to three headwinds shaping pharmacy operations, starting with staffing shortages.
An NCPA survey reported that 58% of pharmacies struggle to fill open roles. Technician turnover costs (on average) between $25K and $35K. Expenses for pharmacists and leadership turnover are even higher, making this an expensive but all-too-common issue.
Drug shortages were another pain point cited by the majority of survey respondents. In the first quarter of 2024, pharmacies saw the highest rate of drug shortages in nearly a decade. Active shortages remain stubbornly high, forcing pharmacies to pay more, scramble to replenish stock and place added pressure on overworked teams.
Finally, and perhaps least surprisingly, the survey highlighted rising drug prices as a significant pain point for pharmacies nationwide. The United States already has some of the highest drug prices worldwide. The Inflation Reduction Act is now accelerating launch prices for new drugs and shifting rebate structures, meaning pharmacy costs for prescription drug products will increase even more.
Best Practices for Pharmacies to Confront These Challenges
Alongside their challenges, pharmacies also shared the strategies and solutions they leverage to stay resilient against these pressures. In this blog post, we’ll focus on three measures that make a difference.
To start, purchasing outside the “top 200”—the list of the 200 most commonly prescribed medications—unlocks significant savings and additional options during drug shortages. Pharmacies exclusively relying on the top 200 miss out on more competitive options and better deals. On the other hand, high performers diversify their vendor portfolio to access more competitive options without sacrificing compliance.
The survey also shows how avoiding sudden vendor out-of-stocks saves pharmacies money and reduces the stress of scrambling for last-minute options. More importantly, it also means there are no disruptions to patient care. Top-performing pharmacies unify vendor catalogs, monitor inventory in real time and automate replenishment to secure cost-effective alternatives proactively.
Surprisingly, ensuring the accurate value of received goods made a significant difference for competitive pharmacies. Obviously, missed items, “miss-picks” and overbilling erode margins. But these issues turn out to be far more common than might be expected! Successful pharmacies integrate invoice reconciliation into workflows to ensure they only pay for what they actually receive.
Common Characteristics of Best-in-Class Pharmacies
Among survey respondents, some pharmacies stood out. They worried the least about the above challenges while saving the most and keeping their teams satisfied. The data showed that the pharmacies achieving best-in-class purchasing practices reported:
- Confidence in securing the best prices across vendors
- Minimal impact from substitutions or stockouts
- Optimized compliance with negotiated contracts
- Accurate reconciliation between invoices and goods received
Another key differentiator was these pharmacies’ implementation of a best-in-class pharmacy procurement software. Traditional purchasing practices and outdated procurement solutions cost pharmacies time and money. For comparison, the most successful pharmacies leverage systems that allow them to take proactive measures. These systems also drive efficiency in all aspects of procurement, including purchasing, compliance and reconciliation as well as inventory management and DSCSA.
Survey data also show that pharmacies that benchmark themselves against peers and adopt proven practices reduce costs, enhance patient care and strengthen their ability to navigate uncertainty.
Are you curious about how your pharmacy compares? Take the next survey here.
