Evan Williams, PharmD, the new director of pharmacy at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine’s Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, is preparing to open a new central pharmacy in his first year leading a department of more than 500 team members.
The department supports more than 800 active clinical trials and hundreds of outpatient infusions each day. Dr. Williams spoke with Becker’s about closing gaps in the medication-use process, making data more actionable and how he sees pharmacy practice changing over the next few years.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are your top priorities for your first year as director of pharmacy?
Dr. Evan Williams: My main goal is to build on the momentum we’ve gained since I joined Penn Medicine four and a half years ago. The post-COVID-19 healthcare landscape continues to evolve, and in many ways that has required us to refocus on the fundamentals: helping team members understand their vital role in the medication-use system, fostering a collaborative and patient-first culture, improving operational reliability and advancing medication safety. We’re also preparing to open a new central pharmacy by the end of the fiscal year while moving forward with several major IT initiatives, so there is a great deal of exciting work ahead.
Q: What does it take to lead pharmacy operations at HUP’s scale?
EW: It requires a strong leadership team that is aligned, accountable and connected to the work. Communication is essential, so we continue to explore more effective and efficient ways to share information across the department. It also requires staying close to frontline operations. Dashboards and performance measures are important, but I encourage our leaders to “go to the gemba,” which means seeing the work where it happens, understanding the challenges firsthand and partnering with team members on meaningful improvements.
Q: How does pharmacy support HUP’s clinical trials and investigational drug work?
EW: Penn Medicine is a world-renowned research institution with a long history of contributing to medication-related innovation. We have a dedicated team of pharmacists, technicians and staff who support the full research continuum, from preclinical bench research through large, multicenter, late-phase clinical trials. Our investigational drug service team is also unique in that it includes a PhD chemist and a division that supports investigator-initiated trials. What truly sets Penn Medicine apart is the scale and complexity of that work, which requires close collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, specialized expertise and a strong commitment to safety and regulatory compliance.
Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for pharmacy transformation?
EW: One example is closing gaps in the medication-use process. We are exploring technology that can better connect Epic, Omnicell and perioperative workflows, reduce duplicate documentation, improve patient selection, automate reconciliation of appropriate transactions and strengthen diversion monitoring.
A second opportunity is infrastructure modernization. Our new central pharmacy is intended to support greater standardization, automation, operational efficiency, safety, regulatory compliance and future growth across the HUP campus.
Finally, we have an opportunity to make data more actionable. Instead of reviewing performance retrospectively, we want usable dashboards that help leaders and frontline teams identify variation, understand causes and intervene earlier.
Q: What operational improvements are you focused on?
EW: We continue to explore opportunities to implement advanced preparation workflows where appropriate, which helps reduce medication preparation lead times in the infusion setting while balancing the need to minimize waste of high-cost medications. We are also expanding electronic perpetual inventory systems across our satellite locations, which has already had a positive effect on inventory turns.
In the inpatient setting, we have been implementing Epic’s dose-tracking functionality to give end users greater visibility into where medications are in the process. It also provides valuable insight into delivery intervals and accuracy, helping us identify opportunities for continued process improvement.
Q: How are you approaching medication safety?
EW: Medication safety must be embedded in the culture from the start. Every morning, we share medication-related safety events from the previous day with the entire department. It is one of several forums where we regularly identify opportunities to improve the medication-use process, but it also ensures we begin each day with a clear focus on safety.
Operationally, we focus on strengthening the systems around our people so that the safest action is also the easiest and most reliable. We continuously evaluate new technologies and tools that can enhance safety, but those tools are only truly effective when they are supported by a strong culture of safety.
Q: How are you recruiting, retaining and developing your team?
EW: The pharmacy labor market has stabilized somewhat since the pandemic. Even so, we continue to face growing competition from nontraditional pharmacy roles that can offer greater flexibility in work hours and location, which aren’t always possible in today’s healthcare environment. To strengthen recruitment and retention, we are identifying opportunities to offer remote work when appropriate, create meaningful growth pathways for pharmacists and technicians, provide dedicated time for projects and research, and support professional involvement in state and national organizations.
From a leadership development perspective, we continue to invest in Penn Medicine’s health-system pharmacy administration and leadership residency. Its focus is developing well-rounded leaders who are prepared to step into leadership roles across a variety of practice settings. We are also partnering with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, our HSPAL master’s program partner, to expand access to graduate education for existing leaders.
Q: How do you see pharmacy practice at HUP changing over the next 3 to 5 years?
EW: Pharmacy practice is at an important inflection point. Policy and legislative changes could significantly reshape our role, particularly if pharmacist provider status creates sustainable reimbursement models that allow us to expand our integration into patient care teams. At the same time, shifts in sites of care, changes to the 340B Drug Pricing Program and the continued growth of advanced therapies will require us to rethink how and where pharmacy services are delivered.
Technology, including the thoughtful integration of AI, will also play a major role in improving efficiency, supporting clinical decision-making and enabling pharmacists to spend more time on direct patient care. There is still uncertainty around how these forces will evolve, but I am confident pharmacists will become even more essential to delivering safe, effective and accessible care.
Q: What advice would you give other pharmacy leaders stepping into a new role at a large academic medical center?
EW: Support and advocate for your team. Surround yourself with smart, diverse people who will challenge your thinking and make you a better leader. Take the time to listen and consider perspectives that differ from your own. Set high expectations, but lead with empathy and recognize that progress often requires compromise. Do not let perfection get in the way of progress. Leadership is not always about having the perfect answer. It’s about bringing people together and finding a path forward.
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