Closing the gap: Turning visibility into leadership in health system pharmacies

A new national survey of hospital pharmacy, supply chain and executive leaders reveals a growing visibility gap in health system pharmacy operations. Only 20% of respondents report full, real-time visibility across care settings, while 77% say they are not fully prepared for major supply chain disruptions. Together, along with ongoing drug shortages, the findings point to an urgent reality: Without clearer, more connected insights into demand, inventory and risk, pharmacy leaders are forced to manage disruption reactively rather than anticipate it.

The survey findings reflect a reality hospital pharmacy leaders know well: Persistent disruption has become normalized. Drug shortages, cost volatility, regulatory pressure and manual workarounds are often treated as unavoidable features of modern healthcare rather than indicators of a deeper structural problem. What this research makes clear is that the current state of pharmacy operations is not unchangeable. It is driven by limited visibility, something that health systems can correct.

This lack of visibility has pushed pharmacy teams into a largely reactive posture. For years, organizations have built processes to manage shortages after the fact rather than prevent them before they affect care. This approach consumes staff time, operational capacity and financial resources while still exposing patients and clinicians to last-minute substitutions and delays. As shortages persist and supply chains grow more complex, that model no longer holds. The path forward requires moving from disruption response to disruption anticipation.

Turning insight into earlier action

Making that shift depends on the ability to see what is happening across the pharmacy supply chain in real time: how medications are being used, where inventory resides, how demand is changing and where risk is emerging upstream. When demand planning, forecasting and inventory data are integrated across care settings, pharmacy leaders can act earlier and with greater confidence. Early signals make it possible to adjust purchasing strategies, reallocate stock, coordinate with suppliers and clinicians, and reduce emergency spending before a shortage escalates into a clinical or financial event.

Achieving this level of foresight is not about adding another system to an already crowded technology environment. Many hospital pharmacies have invested heavily in automation and software yet still struggle with blind spots because those systems do not work together. Progress depends on reducing fragmentation, eliminating manual reconciliation and bringing together data from across systems in ways that are consistent, timely and usable at the enterprise level. Without that foundation, advanced analytics and AI initiatives remain limited in scope and effect.

The cost of inaction is rising

As pharmacy operations grow more complex each year — shaped by specialty drugs, evolving regulatory requirements and ongoing supply volatility — the cost of standing still will continue to rise. Processes that feel barely manageable today will be increasingly strained tomorrow. In that context, maintaining the status quo becomes a strategic risk. Organizations that rely on delayed or partial information will find it harder to control costs, support clinicians and maintain continuity of care as conditions change.

Responding to that risk also requires a broader view of how solutions are evaluated. No single system or vendor can address pharmacy’s challenges alone. Effective pharmacy supply chains are built on connected ecosystems, where partners integrate and align data and evolve together. Health systems should seek partners that understand the regulatory and operational realities of the hospital pharmacy, support ongoing improvement, and are willing to work across technologies rather than operate in isolation. The objective is not perfection on day one but an approach that can adapt as pressures and expectations continue to shift.

Visibility is key to making sure pharmacy’s contributions are understood at the enterprise level. When pharmacy data is integrated and transparent, leaders can clearly show how pharmacy decisions affect financial performance, compliance, risk and patient care. That clarity changes how pharmacy is viewed. It moves the function from a department reacting to shortages to a strategic partner helping the organization navigate ongoing disruption.

The escalating visibility crisis marks an inflection point. Health systems can continue to accept disruption as inevitable or invest in the foundational changes required to anticipate and manage it over the long term. As pressures on healthcare intensify, pharmacy’s role will only become more critical. 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.

To better understand the visibility gap facing health system pharmacy, read our full survey report, The Visibility Crisis in Health System Pharmacies.