Are You Ready for the Next 5 Biggest Pharmacy Challenges Coming in the Next 5 Years?

New data from the 2026 ASHP Strategic Planning Report reveals a sobering reality: the vast majority of pharmacy leaders feel completely unprepared for the seismic changes coming by 2029

Here are some of the most eye-opening findings:

• Only 6–9% of leaders feel “very prepared” for the massive shift of high-cost infusions and acute-care services from hospitals to outpatient clinics, ambulatory centers, and patients’ homes.

• Only 7% feel ready to build the large, centralized remote pharmacist teams needed to help fill the growing primary-care provider shortage.

• Just 17% feel well prepared for the rapid arrival of generative AI in day-to-day medication-use processes.

• Fewer than one in six leaders are confident they can successfully manage the financial and clinical demands of ultra-high-cost gene and cell therapies.

• Across almost every major trend, 83–94% of pharmacy departments admit they are only “somewhat prepared,” “unprepared,” or “very unprepared.”

In short: the majority of organizations are not yet positioned to turn these coming changes into opportunities—instead, many risk being overwhelmed by them.

The five forces every pharmacy leader must address in the next five years

1. Rapid growth of outpatient, alternate-site, and home-based specialty infusion services

2. Expanding clinical pharmacist roles driven by primary-care access shortages

3. Explosion of million-dollar gene, cell, and personalized medicines

4. Generative AI moving into drug information, prior authorizations, documentation, and decision support

5. Ongoing workforce shortages, residency program gaps, and the need for new care models that reduce burnout

Organizations that create clear, funded strategies for these issues now will gain clinical quality, financial strength, and talent attraction advantages that can last a decade.

Those that wait will spend years playing catch-up.

We help pharmacy teams move from “worried” to “ready”

Our pharmacy consulting group has partnered with more than 200 hospitals and health systems to build practical, board-approved five-year plans that turn today’s uncertainties into tomorrow’s strengths.

We focus on the areas that matter most:

• Financial modeling and reimbursement strategies for ultra-high-cost therapies

• Site-of-care shift and home-infusion readiness

• Safe, effective adoption of generative AI tools

• Remote and centralized pharmacist service design

• Workforce planning, culture improvement, and residency pipeline solutions

• 340B and supply-chain optimization in a changing world

  
  

Take the first step – at no cost

Book a free Pharmacy Future-Readiness Review with one of our senior consultants.

In a single 45-minute call we will:

• Compare your current plans against the national benchmarks

• Highlight your three highest-impact opportunities (or risks)

• Give you a straightforward 100-day action checklist

No obligation, no sales pressure – just clear, useful guidance.

→ Schedule your complimentary readiness review today (or simply reply to hello@yourcompany.com)

The next five years in pharmacy will be transformative. The only question is whether your team will lead the transformation – or react to it.

Let’s make sure you’re in the small group that’s truly ready.