Becker's asked pharmacy executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share their team's evolving roles and skills.
The seven executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker's Healthcare Spring Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit, April 30 - May 1, 2025, 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.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities or vendor access-only badges, contact Jessica Cole at jcole@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: How will your leadership team evolve over the next 2 years? What roles or skills will you add and what will become less important?
Joshua Prostek, PharmD. Vice President of ThedaCare at Work, ThedaCare (Neenah, Wis.): Over the next few years, we are really evaluating what is next for our 340B program — both as a way to insulate against further programmatic changes but also to continue learning and growing. What I would like to see is the team evolving from 340B focused only, to a "Strategic Drug Acquisition" team. Think about a team that is negotiating direct deals with manufactures on products that you do not have 340B pricing on or ensuring sources for products subject to shortage. The skills of our 340B team are so much more than analytics and auditing, and pushes the boundaries of strategy. It's time that we explore all they can offer and bring forward new and innovative ideas. I think as we tap their shoulder for new contributions, their daily auditing will become more and more automated.
Todd Karpinski, PharmD. System Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer of WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.): Over the next several years pharmacy leadership teams will need to be nimble as the healthcare landscape will continue to undergo rapid change. Our leaders will need to get up to date with the emergence of artificial intelligence and how it will integrate with the work we do every day. In addition pharmacy leaders will need to continue to be entrepreneurial to develop new sources of revenue as the work we do in pharmacy has a large impact on our organizations bottom-line.
Kuldip R. Patel. Senior Associate Chief Pharmacy Officer of Duke University Health System (Durham, N.C.): Our leadership team is evolving to be more interdisciplinary and strategic, focusing on delivering high-quality care efficiently. Future roles will require a blend of broad, growth-oriented thinking and attention to day-to-day performance details. Leadership will foster a culture of performance excellence through collaboration and active problem-solving. Siloed thinking will be less important; successful leaders will prioritize transparency and empower team members at all levels to contribute to decision-making, inspiring them to provide the best care for our patients.
Jawad N. Saleh, PharmD. Assistant Vice President of Clinical Operations and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Director of Global Pharmacy, GMHED at Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City); Assistant Clinical Professor of St. John's University College of Pharmacy (Queens, N.Y.): I think going back to critical thinking and practicing at the top of your license will be the theme for the upcoming years. The advancement in technology, as well as artificial intelligence, will make clinical operations more efficient – but not necessarily safer. Learning to analyze data, interpret it accurately, and connect it with outcomes, will be the biggest impact to surviving the value based – pay for performance model that healthcare has evolved into. Centralization, standardization, and cost effectiveness is the way forward. The goal is not just to scale rapidly, but to make sure we do so responsibly.
Tracey Spangenberg. Associate Chief Pharmacy Officer of UCSD Health (San Diego): We will continue on our journey for cohesion across our outpatient pharmacy platforms. UCSD Health outpatient retail pharmacy chain has some unique attributes in that we operate several pharmacies with differing business models. This presents us with an incredible opportunity to explore the synergies between the models and leverage that for growth and patient experience across our platform. It is a new way of thinking about how we deliver world class pharmacy service, bring value to the organization and requires leaders who embrace and look for ways we can win as a whole, not just unit by unit. In addition we will be tapping into the incredible value pharmacy technicians can bring to the leadership team which will in turn present some great career opportunities.
We will be adding additional analytics support. We have had some wonderful success over the last two years, which would not have been possible without the analytics to help direct us to areas of highest impact. In addition we will be exploring expertise in RTA to support improved quality as well as helping alleviate the repetitive actions and allow our teams to operate at the top of their license. What will become less important is housing and maintaining spreadsheets as we shift to deploy tools that support optimal team efficiency and leverage workflow analytics.
Onisis Stefas, PharmD. CEO of Vivo Health, Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): As pharmacy practice rapidly evolves and embraces technology, we have a unique opportunity to redefine our leadership approach and optimize our skill sets. We can move away from a reliance on traditional, manual tasks such as medication counting and paper-based processes, which can be streamlined through automation and digital solutions. This allows us to focus on higher-level clinical services, patient-centric care, and continuous staff development, empowering our pharmacists to practice at the top of their licenses. Embracing a digitally integrated, data-driven model will enhance our efficiency and open avenues for innovation, positioning us to serve our communities better and advance the future of healthcare.
Dorinda Segovia, PharmD. Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer of Memorial Healthcare System (Hollywood, Fla.): In our evolving pharmacy workplace, we must not cling to what worked in the past. Successful teams will be those embracing change and fostering a culture of learning where one can balance, operational and strategic goals.
Cross functional collaboration, flexibility and complex problem solving where leaders empower the workforce with the right tools and systems to drive efficiencies.