Visante Releases 2026 Top 10 Forces Shaping Health System Pharmacy
Strategic Insights for C-Suite Leaders Navigating Growth, Margins, and Enterprise Transformation
St. Paul, Minn. – January 6, 2026 – Visante, a leading healthcare solutions firm focused on pharmacy strategy and performance, today released its highly anticipated 2026 Top Ten Forces Shaping Health System Pharmacy, providing executive leaders with a forward-looking lens on pharmacy’s evolving role as a strategic growth engine.
This year’s analysis highlights a pivotal shift: pharmacy is no longer simply a clinical service or cost center—it is central to enterprise growth, revenue strategy, provider engagement, risk management, and long-term sustainability. For health system executives facing tighter margins, shifting care models, and increasing operational pressures, pharmacy represents high-yield opportunities that extend far beyond the inpatient setting.
Key Forces Shaping Pharmacy in 2026
- From Cost Center to Growth Engine: Elevating pharmacy into strategic planning alongside finance, ambulatory, and payer strategy to unlock system-level growth and strengthen margins.
- Pharmacy at a Crossroads: Embracing entrepreneurial, scalable revenue opportunities including infusion, specialty, and PBM programs.
- Pharmacy Talent Strategy: Addressing leadership gaps and talent drain to protect revenue, 340B savings, and ambulatory expansion.
- Smart AI Adoption: Piloting AI initiatives that streamline workflows, improve access, and deliver measurable ROI.
- Ambulatory Care Integration: Building pharmacy programs that drive patient access, retention, and downstream margin capture.
- Executive Scorecard Metrics: Embedding pharmacy KPIs to align performance, accountability, and system-wide outcomes.
- Pharmacy-Led Supply Chain Governance: Enhancing cost control, compliance, and audit protection in medication supply management.
- Revenue Cycle Optimization: Mitigating charge capture errors, biosimilar conversion gaps, and denials to safeguard margin.
- Pharmacy Challenges in Focus: Engaging pharmacy leadership to mitigate burnout, policy uncertainty, and infrastructure constraints.
- Unlocking Untapped Value: Reinvesting strategically to scale beyond plateaued pharmacy performance and capture new opportunities.
“As we look toward 2026, the most successful health systems will be those that stop viewing pharmacy in silos,” said Jim Jacobsohn, Chief Growth Officer, Visante. “Pharmacy touches growth, margin, access, risk, and patient experience—and when those connections are intentional, the enterprise moves faster and performs better. The opportunity ahead isn’t theoretical; it’s already there for organizations willing to lead differently.”
From Margin Pressure to Margin Opportunity: The Pharmacy Advantage in 2026
Visante’s Top Ten Forces illustrate that pharmacy is the connector between strategy and execution, operations and innovation, and patient care and financial performance. Health systems that recognize pharmacy as a cornerstone of enterprise transformation will be best positioned to thrive in 2026.
Executives ready to explore these opportunities and elevate pharmacy’s impact are encouraged to contact Visante today to discuss strategies for leveraging pharmacy as a driver of enterprise growth.
Explore deeper analysis, practical insights, and the full 2026 Top Ten at www.visante.com.
About Visante
We are relentless in solving the most complex challenges in health system pharmacy—designing our clients’ pharmacy footprints to win today and be built for tomorrow. Our work delivers measurable financial gains, operational excellence, and an elevated patient experience.
We set ambitious goals, move with urgency, and create extraordinary value for our clients. Obsessed with client impact, we thrive in a collaborative, innovative culture where expertise turns insight into action. We’re proud of the results we deliver and the trust we earn—fueling sustained growth and exceptional client satisfaction. Learn more at visante.com.