Becker’s asked pharmacy executives from hospitals and health systems, along with academic medical centers and universities across the U.S. to share their most innovative idea they’re bringing to their organization.
The 20 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker’s Healthcare 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit, from November 4 – 6, 2026 at the Swissotel Chicago.
To learn more about this event, click here.
If you would like to join as a reviewer, contact Mariah Muhammad at mmuhammad@beckershealthcare.com or agendateam@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our conference. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.
Question: What is the best new idea you’re bringing to life this year in your organization?
Scott Knoer, PharmD. Regional Chief Pharmacy Officer of MercyOne (Des Moines, Iowa): It’s not new to me or the profession of pharmacy, but it’s new for me to implement it with my current organization. We are placing pharmacists in specialty clinics and seeing what we always see. Quality is improving, physicians have more bandwidth, and we are capturing more prescription volume. It’s a win-win-win-win-win. It’s a win for patients who get better multidisciplinary care. It’s a win for our busy providers to help with bandwidth. It’s a win for the organization financially through increased prescription capture. It’s a win for our pharmacists who have engaging, rewarding, patient facing jobs. And finally, it’s a win for the department since it helps with recruiting and elevates our reputation in the market. It’s a universal truth that whenever you put a pharmacist in a clinic, they immediately become indispensable.
Nicole Shoquist, PharmD. Chief Pharmacy Officer of JPS Health Network (Fort Worth, Texas): JPS is building a new specialty pharmacy with our long-term partner. A key area of focus is leveraging their advanced data visualization and business intelligence technology to optimize both cost and revenue performance. This platform transforms complex data into clear, actionable insights by bringing reporting, analytics, and operational visibility across the entire pharmacy into a single, intuitive portal. As these tools continue to evolve, JPS plans to explore the use of AI‑enabled capabilities to streamline data management, automate health system workflows, and support teams with predictive insights. By combining robust analytics with an improved user experience, JPS is positioned to move from data to decisions more efficiently and effectively.
Ashley Galla, PharmD. Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Vivo Health at Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): This year, we’re reimagining how technology and digital solutions can transform our workflows and dramatically extend the reach of our pharmacy services. We currently deploy large teams of pharmacists and support professionals across critical functions, such as prior authorization, financial assistance, care coordination, and medication management, to help patients swiftly access the medications and care they need. Our efforts center on strategically integrating intelligent automation to minimize manual documentation and administrative burden, developing better integration within our electronic medical record, and enhancing our ability to offer the right support to the right patient. This transformation empowers our teams to do what they do best, build meaningful relationships with patients and providers while practicing at the top of their license. By removing these administrative hurdles, we’re not just improving time to therapy, we’re creating the conditions for better downstream clinical outcomes and a more rewarding practice environment for our pharmacy professionals. The potential impact this will have on both our team and the patients we serve has me feeling energized.
Ronnah Alexander. Chief Pharmacy Officer of Regional healthcare Affiliates, Health First Community Health Center (Providence, Ky.): This year, one of the most impactful initiatives we have launched within our organization is a comprehensive Hepatitis C test-and-treat program. We have successfully trained all of our providers to become KHAMP-certified through the Kentucky program, enabling them to both diagnose and initiate treatment for Hepatitis C directly within our health center.
A significant number of patients living with Hepatitis C are unaware they have contracted the disease, often remaining asymptomatic for years. By proactively identifying and treating these individuals, we are not only improving individual patient outcomes but truly saving lives.
In addition to the clinical impact, this program also supports the long-term sustainability of our organization during financially challenging times by expanding services, improving population health outcomes, and strengthening our role as a comprehensive care provider in the community.
Steven Schultz, PharmD. Vice President of Pharmacy at JPS Health System (Fort Worth, Texas): Drug diversion has been a personal passion of mine since getting into health system pharmacy. It is an area that lacks standardization and robust organizational focus as gaps are often nuanced and technologically driven. We have recently purchased a waste testing machine and I am eager to include it in our overall drug diversion program. We are developing policies and a randomized process to obtain and test controlled substance waste. This will need diligent oversight and partnership with other departmental leaders to explain goals and organizational impacts.
John A. Armitstead. Vice President of Pharmacy Services at Lee Health (Fort Myers, Fla.): One goal for the next few years at Lee Health is to expand our home infusion service into the alternate site infusion arena, creating accessible, patient-centered care options beyond the hospital setting. We intend to model and then establish neighborhood-based infusion sites that provide both health maintenance therapies and specialty infusions for patients who do not require the complexity of hospital outpatient services. These sites will be designed to deliver high-quality, clinically integrated care while maintaining strong coordination with providers. By shifting appropriate patients to these lower-cost settings, we aim to improve affordability and patient convenience without compromising safety or outcomes. This strategy will also enhance capacity within hospital infusion centers for higher-acuity patients. Ultimately, we seek to build a scalable, sustainable infusion network that improves access, patient experience, and healthcare value.
Dave Lacknauth, PharmD. Vice President of Pharmacy Services at Broward Health (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.): The evolution of medication therapies entering the market continues to accelerate, with 2026 representing one of the fastest periods of growth in advancing treatment options and their impact on patient outcomes. As this landscape becomes increasingly complex, adopting a total health system lens is essential to achieving optimal medication management.
By taking a comprehensive, systemwide approach, we can better interpret the complexities of medication management and align our services with broader organizational goals. This alignment enables us to translate what is often perceived as a ‘foreign language’ into actionable strategies that drive both clinical and operational success.
At the same time, the dynamic regulatory environment — particularly related to 340B and medication reimbursement — requires careful navigation. Balancing compliance, financial stewardship, and patient care is critical to ensuring we deliver the right therapies at the right cost.
Ultimately, our focus remains on optimizing patient outcomes while maintaining cost efficiency. This requires a disciplined approach to revenue capture, resource allocation, and performance improvement. By continuing to invest in measurable, data-driven strategies, we can strengthen our ability to deliver high-quality care while maximizing value across the health system.
Casey Dugan, PharmD. Vice President of Pharmacy Services at Children’s Hospital Colorado (Aurora): This year, we’re introducing pharmacy technicians into our Care Coordination Program to better support our most medically complex pediatric patients. Their focus is simple: remove barriers to medication access, quickly surface adherence concerns, and streamline communication across acute, ambulatory, retail, and specialty pharmacy services. By tightening these handoffs, we expect to strengthen discharge planning, reduce readmissions, and curb unnecessary ED and urgent care use. Most importantly, this role enables more consistent, high‑touch pharmaceutical care leading to healthier kids and a smoother experience for families.
Daniel P. O’Neil, PharmD. Assistant Vice President of Pharmacy at WVU Hospitals (Morgantown, W.Va.): Like many states, West Virginia and the surrounding areas have seen our fair share of community pharmacy closures across the state over the past several years. These closures have impacted both chain community pharmacies as well as independents. Many that stayed open, have had their hours of operation shortened or had sporadic closures due to staffing issues. WVU Medicine recognizes our patients in the community need improved access to medications and have made a commitment to patient care by expanding our mail-order and brick-and-mortar pharmacy footprint. The health-system will open four brand-new community pharmacies within the next 12 months with further expansion in the future. In addition, the current WVU Medicine Specialty Pharmacy and Home Infusion Pharmacy have outgrown their space due to continued patient care needs. WVU Medicine will open a brand-new, state-of-the-art, and expanded centralized specialty, home infusion, and mail-order pharmacy in early 2027.
Aron Beugli, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy and Residency Program at Santiam Memorial Hospital (Stayton, Ore.): Santiam Hospital and Clinics is a 40-bed hospital in a rural area with limited healthcare resources. With the help of our residency program, the pharmacy department has been able to take a lead role in providing education and best practice updates to nursing, leadership, EMT and other providers. We have shown our commitment to strong interdepartmental collaboration by placing residents in areas outside of central hospital pharmacy, including primary care clinics, cardiology, hospital leadership, surgical transitions of care and the emergency department. This has earned us several opportunities to grow our pharmacy presence. Pharmacy staff now assist in many service lines within our hospital and clinic system. Recent pharmacy initiatives include: pharmacy-led refill request and authorizations via protocol into pharmacy, placing ambulatory care pharmacists into primary care clinics and opening a retail pharmacy in one of our service area cities that does not have one.
Paul Green, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy Services at Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.): One of the most exciting things we’re working on at WMCHealth this year is transforming Pharmacy into a more integrated enterprise service line, not just a hospital-based department. A big part of that is building the infrastructure and team needed to launch a health system-owned specialty pharmacy, while also better connecting our acute care, ambulatory, infusion, and medication access strategies. For me, this is about much more than dispensing medications; it is about improving access for patients, keeping care more connected within our system, and positioning pharmacy to contribute more directly to clinical outcomes, growth, and the long-term success of the organization. We are also working to better align clinical pharmacy services, 340B strategy, and referral pathways so Pharmacy can play a more intentional role in reducing leakage, strengthening continuity of care, and creating value across the continuum. I believe health systems that view Pharmacy as a strategic enterprise asset, rather than simply a support service, will be best positioned for the future, and that is very much the direction we are building toward at WMCHealth.
Fatimah Muhammad. Director of 340B Pharmaceutical Services, Specialty Pharmacy, Drug Replacement, and ADM Pharmaceutical Services at Saint Peter’s University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.): This year, I’m bringing to life an idea I’ve championed from the ground up , the launch of Saint Peter’s University Hospital’s first-ever specialty pharmacy, a multimillion-dollar initiative and the first of its kind in New Jersey. This is something I first proposed when I joined Saint Peter’s, and I’ve advocated for it every year since because I believed deeply in its potential to transform our organization. I identified the opportunity, forged the partnership with Clearway Health, and this year it’s finally becoming reality with a targeted opening in the second half of 2026. For a community hospital like Saint Peter’s, standing up a specialty pharmacy means we can keep high-cost, high-touch therapies within our system, improving access for our most vulnerable patient populations while reinvesting margin back into mission-driven services. What excites me most is that this initiative sits at the intersection of clinical excellence, financial sustainability, and health equity, three pillars I believe every pharmacy leader should be building around simultaneously. At a time when the 340B program is under unprecedented scrutiny and facing proposed policy changes like the rebate model pilot, investing in specialty pharmacy infrastructure is both a strategic imperative and a statement of commitment to the communities we serve.
Ron Hartman, PharmD. System Director of Pharmacy at Tanner Health (Carrollton, Ga.): Tanner Health has had a lot of growth in recent years, and our pharmacy team has been expanding to accommodate that. Last year we added pharmacy coordinators specializing in business operations, clinical operations, quality, and informatics. This year we are expanding our reach throughout the health system. We’re experimenting with embedding pharmacists in ambulatory clinics, we are opening a specialty pharmacy, we are working on plans to embed pharmacists focused on transitions of care in our EDs, and we’re on a journey for pharmacy to fully own medication reconciliation in every area of care. Our global med rec plans include partnering with our retail pharmacy, to tie discharge med rec with meds to beds to maximize benefits to our patients, ultimately improving patient experience, shortening length of stay, and driving down readmission rates. We will also capitalize on the close-knit teams in our critical access hospitals, as we research embedding ‘incubators for Innovation’ in those pharmacies to further expand ambulatory services and experiment with pharmacy technician embedment to achieve true global med rec. In addition, we are building our inpatient clinical pharmacist team, with the ultimate goal of opening a residency program to focus on the challenges and opportunities in smaller, rural health systems. It’s an exciting time to be at Tanner Health! Here innovation and patient care are at the forefront of all we do for our rural communities.
Kari Ford, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy at Saint Anthony Hospital (Chicago): This year at Saint Anthony Hospital, we are very excited to work on the development of an infusion center to increase access to life-sustaining therapies within our Little Village community. Currently, members of our community have very few options to receive infusion-related care and must travel outside of the community and our hospital to address their needs which can lead to gaps in care, preventable hospitalization, and increased complexity of care. This project is a great collaborative effort between pharmacy, medicine, nursing, finance, patient scheduling, and leadership, to build a sustainable, patient-centered infusion model that aims to bring care back to our organization from prescribing to administration of therapy. Initial therapies will likely include rheumatology, GI, and neurology related treatments with hopes to expand to oncology therapies as we continue to learn and grow with the program. Ultimately, the goal of this initiative is to reflect the broader mission of Saint Anthony Hospital, to care for our neighbors by providing high-quality care, never turning away or leaving anyone behind.
Vince Sung, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy, Oncology and Infusion at Ascension St. John (Tulsa, Okla.): This year, I’m leading an effort to bring our infusion sites into alignment — standardizing how we work so patients get the same quality of care no matter which location they walk into. Right now, fragmented care is driving up costs and creating inconsistency we can’t ignore. We can close that gap by incorporating clinical guidelines directly into our workflows. The goal is simple: deliver evidence-based care consistently across every site. That’s how we build something that’s both clinically sound and financially sustainable long-term.
Sterling Elliott, PharmD. Clinical Pharmacist Lead of Ambulatory Surgery Practice, Surgery and Procedures at Northwestern Medicine (Chicago): An interdisciplinary team of providers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago is working in concert to expand a program of preemptive oral analgesia from a limited orthopaedic use to patients having surgeries in all disciplines. Pharmacy is working with anesthesia to make the use of acetaminophen and celecoxib a standard of pain management care for all patients without contraindications or allergies. The goal is to leverage low-cost oral agents to down-regulate the flow of pain signals and combat inflammation, a root cause of pain. Preemptive analgesia is a growing tool in the arsenal that offers clinical and economic benefits. Surgeons from many disciplines are championing the effort with the goal of helping patients manage pain while limiting the use of opioids and relatively higher cost non-opioid medications such as injectable acetaminophen. The ultimate goal is to optimize patients’ experiences managing post-surgical pain and the financial efficiency of providing that high quality care.
Sarah Thornton, PharmD. Pharmacy Director of Specialty Pharmacy Services at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock, Ark.): At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, we have recently implemented a transition of care pharmacist and pharmacy technician team within our Specialty Pharmacy who helps support providers with patients who are on Specialty medications that are soon to discharge. This team ensures that the prior authorization and any financial assistance is obtained prior to discharge and the pharmacist completes a medication reconciliation and counsels the patient upon discharge. We are looking to further expand this program by linking it with our pharmacist led medication reconciliation program that happens upon patient admission to our health system. We are also exploring ways to expand infusion access for patients throughout Arkansas and looking for best ways to combat site of care restrictions from payers with infusion. Our goal is to determine the best path forward to expand access in a rural state to infusion therapy to positively impact patient care.
Matthew Webber, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy Business at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.): This year, I’m bringing to life something we started building 18 months ago at Novant Health: a dedicated pharmacy revenue integrity team built around ownership, accountability, and deep subject matter expertise. Pharmacy revenue cycle has historically been neglected, technically owned by everyone, and fully optimized by no one. That gap has quietly cost health systems for years in increased denials and under-reimbursement. Pharmacy has already stepped up on the front end, with Infusion Access Teams and Medication Access Specialists helping patients navigate prior authorizations across medical benefit and PBM channels. A dedicated revenue integrity function closes the back end of that loop, moving the discipline from reactive to proactive. Getting reimbursed accurately for the care we provide isn’t optional; it funds our ability to keep delivering it.
Eric Guile. Regional Director of Pharmacy, Central Region-IL, KS, MO, TN, IA, WI at Encompass Health (Birmingham, Ala.): The idea I am most excited about is the use of our EHR to work interdisciplinary in the area of medication education. We have developed and piloted a medication reconciliation checklist that integrates into our patient interview form. This form helps ensure that we are addressing adherence barriers and working with therapy, nursing, and case management to navigate these barriers before discharge.
Nicole Copley, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Institute of Libertyville (Ill.): Although not a new concept to the world of Pharmacy, we’re really attempting to strive for stronger patient safety opportunities, as well as a deeper patient-centered care/connection.
We’ve incorporated mid-stay check-ins with our inpatient rehabilitation patients, allowing us to get a chance to discuss how the patient’s stay and care are going.
Some of the questions we’re able to ask and dive deeper with the patients include: “How is your stay going? What questions do you have for me about your medications? Do you feel any concerns you may have about pain are being addressed? and What are you looking forward to the most when you go home?”
This allows for open dialogue, along with an opportunity to address any process improvements and medication concerns while the patient is still here.
We have gotten great feedback and it’s improved our connections with our patients while they’re here with us. This is an overall win-win for us here at Encompass Health Libertyville.
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