Pharmacy leaders are facing no shortage of opportunities, but deciding where to focus is becoming one of the hardest parts of the job.
Paul Green, PharmD, director of pharmacy services at Westchester Medical Center Health Network in Valhalla, N.Y., said the expansion of pharmacy’s role has created a new kind of pressure inside health systems.
“Like a lot of systems, there’s so much opportunity for pharmacy that sometimes it’s difficult to prioritize,” he said on Becker’s “Pharmacy Leadership Podcast.”
That pressure is building as pharmacy teams are pulled into a growing number of initiatives at once, from ambulatory and specialty growth to supply chain resilience and technology integration. Many of these efforts are important — and often urgent — but not all can move forward at the same time.
“We can do anything, but we can’t do everything,” Dr. Green said.
At the enterprise level, that reality is shaping how pharmacy leaders structure their approach. At Westchester, current efforts are centered on building clearer governance, improving standardization and strengthening pharmacy’s role in systemwide decision-making across a broad mix of services, including acute care, critical care, oncology, infusion and ambulatory care.
“I’m very interested in helping move pharmacy from being reactive to more proactive and more embedded in the broader organizational strategy,” he said.
Those shifts are happening alongside continued changes in how care is delivered. Pharmacists are taking on more direct patient care responsibilities, particularly in ambulatory settings and transitions of care, while also helping manage increasingly complex and high-cost therapies and supporting more longitudinal care for patients outside the hospital setting.
Technology is adding another layer of transformation. As part of an upcoming EMR transition, Westchester Medical Center is working toward greater integration across clinical and operational systems — including automated dispensing cabinets and infusion pumps connecting directly with the medical record.
“That’s really going to allow pharmacy to have a more comprehensive scope and view as to what’s going on within the patients’ care,” Dr. Green said.
Even with those advancements, day-to-day operational pressures remain. Drug shortages continue to require constant adjustment, reinforcing the need for discipline and adaptability across pharmacy teams.
At the same time, leaders are thinking carefully about how to sustain their workforce as expectations continue to expand.
“We can have the best ideas in the world, but if the model isn’t sustainable for the people doing the work, it’s not going to hold,” Dr. Green said.
Over the past year, Dr. Green said one of the most meaningful areas of progress has been strengthening the connection between pharmacy’s daily work and the broader priorities of the health system — an effort that depends as much on focus as it does on execution.
“More than anything, I’m proud that we’re not just trying to maintain — we’re trying to build something stronger and more intentional for the future,” he said.
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