As pharmaceutical costs rise, Vizient emphasized the importance of integrating finance leaders and other C-suite members into pharmacy discussions about medication quality, cost and reimbursement. In its 2025 trends report, the organization also encouraged leaders to develop interdisciplinary teams to analyze appropriate use, equitable access and optimal reimbursement practices for medicines costing more than $500,000.
Three findings from Vizient’s 2025 trends report:
1. Specialty pharmacy services account for 54% of total drug spend at health systems. Leaders are exploring opportunities to expand specialty pharmacy’s role into non-oncology service lines.
2. Outpatient pharmacy costs have grown 52% faster than total outpatient pharmacy spend over the past three years. Orthopedic, cancer and immunology are the fastest-growing service lines in outpatient pharmacy costs.
3. Pharmaceutical service lines with the highest spending include:
- Oncology ($19.4 million)
- Neurosciences ($3.1 million)
- Gastroenterology ($1.5 million)
- Rheumatology ($1.4 million)
- Hematology ($1.3 million).
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