Pharmacy is under pressure from every direction — shrinking reimbursements, 340B headwinds, rising drug costs, and a workforce stretched thin. And yet the pharmacy leaders living inside that pressure are not sounding the alarm.
We asked more than a dozen chief pharmacy officers, directors, and clinical executives one question: is the future of healthcare bright or dark? What came back was candid, specific, and grounded in the realities of the pharmacy floor. The challenges are real and so is the conviction that pharmacy is evolving into something more essential, more clinical, and more central to patient care than ever before.
The 12 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker’s Healthcare Spring Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit, from April 15 – 16, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
To learn more about this event, click here.
If you would like to join as a speaker or 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: Is the future of healthcare bright or dark? Why?
Nilesh Desai. Chief Pharmacy Officer of Baptist Health (Louisville, Ky.): The future of healthcare, I genuinely believe the outlook is bright. We are witnessing innovative, targeted therapies that are providing options for treatment of complex diseases. Integration of AI into healthcare is already starting to enhance care and reduce administrative burden for clinicians, allowing them to focus more on patient care. The darker side is that the newer therapies often come with higher costs, which can, unfortunately, create barriers to access for some patients. As a society we will need to figure out how to provide these therapies and mitigate these costs.
Onisis Stefas, PharmD. CEO of VIVO Health at Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): The future of healthcare is bright. The grit, resilience, and innovation shown by healthcare professionals during COVID proved that healthcare can adapt, transform, and lead.
Technology, especially cell and gene therapies, data-driven tools, and virtual care is reshaping what’s possible and expanding access.
At the same time, a new era of consumerism is putting patients firmly at the center, with truly consumer-obsessed organizations wrapping care around each individual, their preferences, their schedules, and what matters most to them.
New players, private equity investment, and healthcare disruptors are challenging the status quo and prompting the system to confront disparities and inefficiencies.
At VIVOHealth, our mission is to provide exceptional care and service, raising the health of the communities we serve. We are constantly exploring innovative, tech-enabled ways to deliver care, meeting patients where they are on their journey and empowering them in their own care, which leads to healthier, happier patients and a brighter future for healthcare.
Tracey Spangenberg. Associate Chief Pharmacy Officer of UC San Diego Health (Calif.): Bright, almost too bright where you are unable to see too far in front. ‘The wind of change is blowing …’ a famous quote from the 1960’s by Harold Macmillan the British Prime Minister, could not be more applicable now as we see a seismic shift in the pharmacy business model. The shift is both disruption in the conventional manufacturer supply chain as well as payer reimbursement models. My optimism is based on the de-commoditization of the activity of prescription furnishing to a new and exciting role for pharmacists in value based care. Community pharmacy interactions with patients have for decades been undervalued. Pharmacists have the highest number of touch points with a patient in a year out of any other healthcare professional and in addition have the role of being the connective tissue between therapies prescribed by clinics who are siloed from each other. Who better to guide patients through their health journey in between clinic visits and keep them out of crisis.
Ryan Haumschild, PharmD. Vice President of Pharmacy at Emory University (Atlanta): I believe the future of healthcare is bright, but it will require strong stewardship from leaders across the system. We have to thoughtfully implement AI, engage more directly in payer strategy, and embrace value-based care as policies like the Inflation Reduction Act which will reshape how care is delivered and paid for. Rather than worrying about the disruption, this is a new horizon for healthcare to adapt, innovate, and ultimately deliver better care for patients. I am here for the long haul and recognize adaptation and embracing change is the key to longevity.
Trina La, PharmD. Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Services at HealthPoint (College Station, Texas): The future of healthcare is bright. Speaking from the perspective of one of the larger rural FQHC in Texas, I firmly believe this — especially within the field of pharmacy and the profession’s expanding clinical role, supported by rapid advances in technology. The pharmacy space continues to evolve far beyond traditional dispensing. Pharmacists are playing an important role essential to population health, chronic disease management, and medication optimization as part of integrated care teams.
Integrated care models and value-based arrangements further highlight the indispensable role of pharmacy in improving outcomes and reducing total cost of care. Automation, including robotics and centralized distribution, is expanding medical and medication access for patients in rural areas. Combined with advanced analytics and streamlined workflows, these technologies empower the pharmacy teams to practice at the top of their license.
Of course, this bright future does not come without challenges — ongoing national drug shortages, workforce constraints in rural areas, Regulations and manufacturing restrictions to the 340B program, and rising operational costs continue to place pressure on the system. What gives me confidence, however, is the adaptability of the pharmacy workforce and the growing recognition of our impact on patient care. With purposeful investment in people, innovative technologies, and sustainable care models, pharmacy is well‑positioned to lead healthcare forward.
Tim Wu, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy and System Drug Diversion Manager at Carroll Hospital (Westminster, Md.): I think the future of healthcare is a mix of both bright and dark. For example, advances in technology, data analytics and automation are giving clinicians better tools to improve safety, efficiency and patient outcomes. In pharmacy we see this through clinical decision support, centralized services and systems that help standardize medication management.
At the same time, one downside is that healthcare can become too reliant on technology. Clinical judgment and critical thinking are still essential, and technology should support clinicians rather than replace the thinking behind good medical decisions.
The outlook also depends heavily on payment structure. In Maryland, where our organization operates under the Total Cost of Care model, hospitals are incentivized to focus more on population health and preventing avoidable utilization rather than simply volume of services. Because of this, we have invested heavily in services like medication access and transitions-of-care support. These programs help patients obtain their medications before leaving the hospital, reduce cost barriers, and provide follow-up to ensure medications are taken correctly — helping prevent unnecessary readmissions related to medication access or adherence.
I remain optimistic though that if we balance innovation and technology with strong clinical leadership and thoughtful care design, healthcare can continue moving toward safer, more effective care for patients.
Barbara Higgins, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy at Michigan Medicine (Ann Arbor): It very much depends on the perspective of the person answering the question. From some institutional perspectives, it can be rather dark at present given shifting landscapes, reimbursement changes and workflow challenges. From a patient perspective, it is variable. For many it is bright as new innovative therapies are assisting with quality of life. For others, particularly those without a background in healthcare or a strong patient advocate it is murky as they navigate through all of the non-science based ‘health’ information in our environment. From a healthcare provider perspective, we have seen brighter days when there were fewer hurdles and red tape to do no harm and provide the best care to patients. Many providers are overworked and under-resourced but see the improvement in our patients as the reasons to show up every day; brightness comes from their improvement.
Divya Srinivasan, PhD. Director of Pharmacy at CHI St. Luke’s Health Brazosport (Lake Jackson, Texas) and St. Luke’s Patients Medical Center: The future of healthcare remains bright, despite significant industry challenges such as increased costs for specialty medications, decreased reimbursement rates, greater 340B rigor, reduced federal funding, and expanding regulatory requirements.
Healthcare leaders have successfully managed unprecedented complexity in recent years, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic alongside severe staffing shortages. Moreover, although we face challenges, I am confident that by innovating and leveraging advanced automation and AI technology, we can identify creative solutions to overcome our current demands.
Michael Stepanovic, PharmD. Assistant Professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (Chapel Hill, NC): I believe the future of healthcare is bright, particularly as we begin to leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, automation, and robotics in ways we have never seen before. These tools have the potential to dramatically improve patient outcomes, optimize operations, and allow clinicians to focus more of their time on patient care. Pharmacy is uniquely positioned at the center of this transformation because medication management, supply chain, and clinical decision support sit at the intersection of data, technology, and patient care. At the same time, there are certainly darker aspects of the current moment, including workforce strain, financial pressures, and the complexity of implementing new technologies responsibly. However, in my opinion, many of these challenges represent transitional growing pains as healthcare adapts to a new era of innovation. If we invest in leadership development, workforce training, and thoughtful technology governance, these obstacles will be temporary rather than permanent. Ultimately, the long-term trajectory of healthcare is overwhelmingly positive, and pharmacy will play a central role in shaping a future that delivers safer, more efficient, and more patient-centered care.
Faisal Sahawneh, PharmD. Regional Manager of Pharmacy Infusion Services at Loyola University Medical Center (Maywood, Ill.): Call me a cautious optimist, but I believe that the future of healthcare is certainly bright (and bumpy!). We tend to experience the latest headwinds to our particular sector within healthcare as a negative, be it decisions in the political arena, or more general economic pressures that no sector is safe from. However, some of these challenges may just about nudge us towards evolving how we deliver care to our patients.
Take outpatient infusions and home care as an example. Many health systems in the past may have only offered these services as an afterthought. With the recent phenomenon of payer restrictions on hospital outpatient department visits, many systems are having to flex towards home care and invest in building out those services and facilities. In undergoing that metamorphosis, we’ve found that outpatient options and home care are exactly where patients want to receive their care in today’s fast-paced society. Such an ability to adapt and contour our services to a changing landscape gives me hope that our sector will rise in the face of future challenges.
Jorge J. García, PharmD. Strategy of Corporate Pharmacy Clinical Enterprise at Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables, Fla.): The forecast is definitely cloudy! It is already raining in many regions where hospitals continue to operate on negative margins, many weathering losses for consecutive years. Several sources estimate this is the case for more than a third of the hospitals in the country.
Unfortunately, there is more rain coming. Both federal and commercial payers are taking action to pay providers less; some is already in effect, as is the case with CMS price negotiations, with expansion to additional medications beginning in January 2027 and tactful projected expansion to buy-and-bill drugs in 2028. More developing policy work aims to take it a lot further.
On the commercial side, the push to pharmacy benefit, white bagging, and site-of-care has never brought us closer to the cliff. There, by the cliff, are many other atmospheric pressures at play. Take the biologic patent cliff as an example, bringing both Keytruda and Opdivo next to biosimilar competition that will also have a profound direct impact on reimbursement to practices everywhere. This rightful biosimilar competition framework has delivered far more value for payers than any other stakeholder; while our radar turns red, there is more massive value coming to them.
Whether you prefer umbrellas or raincoats, it is essential to lead a sound system strategy that copes best with the evolving and deteriorating weather, but most importantly, one that allows you to stay afloat on the sunny days. There are substantial emerging opportunities within provider-driven drug utilization management, and specialty infusion expansion, as an example. In the current environment, there is no room to leave value on the table as others are already relentlessly working on a strategy to take your leftovers.
Pharmacy leaders have never been better positioned to weather the storm and leverage emerging opportunities that bring net new value which will be essential to preserve and expand quality and comprehensive care services.
Martin J. Torres, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy, Quality, Safety, Education, and Research at UC Irvine Health (Calif.): Contrary to popular opinion, there has never been a better time to be in healthcare and have the privilege of caring for patients! No, this is not irrational exuberance despite references to wartime conditions in which our current environment is characterized as VUCA. Remember we survived COVID? We need to use our collective problem-solving skills combined with our training as clinical scientists to lead teams which will skillfully mitigate the chaos by providing clarity around quality and patient safety. If we do the right thing on behalf of our patients, fiscal rewards will follow. All things are cyclic and there have been many times when we have been overwhelmed in our current state only to look back a year thinking last year wasn’t so bad after all. The worst place to be a year from now is in the same place!
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