Ruth Cassidy, PharmD, recently joined New York City-based Montefiore Health System as the system's inaugural chief pharmacy officer. With years of experience in hospital and community pharmacy practice, Dr. Cassidy is focused on optimizing pharmacy operations, improving patient care and driving innovation.
She connected with Becker's to discuss her goals for the pharmacy department and her approach to addressing challenges within the healthcare landscape.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Are there any innovations or initiatives you are particularly excited to bring to the pharmacy department in 2025?
Dr. Ruth Cassidy: We certainly hope to bring a lot more automation, with the hope of expanding access, so we serve the indigent population here in the Bronx. I've been in the Bronx a long time, so what I really hope to do is improve the best practices in pharmacy through automation, through expanded access, through our unique programs like 340B and bringing access to patients to help improve outcomes and improve the health of patients.
Q: With the increasing pressure on health systems to reduce costs, how do you plan to balance cost savings with maintaining high-quality care for patients?
RC: Because we serve a very indigent population, we have access to various government programs and grants that will help us reduce their costs. But it is also about, as you make patients healthier, you will see those costs decrease as well. In medicine and the practice of pharmacy, that is how you can balance these costs.
Q: What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge for you and the pharmacy department in 2025?
RC: I would say regulations. Regulations across the industry have gotten tighter, so making sure that you can optimize patient outcomes and still fall in line with all the regulatory compliance — sometimes that can be a challenge. So what we usually do is use automation and AI to help achieve those goals.
Q: How do you plan to foster collaboration between the pharmacy department and other teams within Montefiore?
RC: I think across the board, all disciplines tend to work together. Pharmacy has already really integrated itself into many disciplines across the continuum. How I look into improving that is through relationship building, so, I plan to reach out to all the chairs, all the service lines and really start showing them how pharmacy can help improve the health of their patients.
Q: How will you measure the success of the pharmacy department over the next year?
RC: Success for pharmacy and for medicine in general is all through patient outcomes. So, improving patient outcomes and improving patient care access — so access to better medications that are going to improve patient health.
Q: Do you have any additional goals or insights you would like to share regarding the future of pharmacy at Montefiore?
RC: With an academic medical center, you see very cutting-edge, evidence-based practice. So with pharmacy, we hope to match that. As we improve pharmacy and pharmacotherapeutics, we want our best practices to reflect that same cutting edge and evidence based care people receive across our medical system.