Survey Says Hospital Leaders Prioritize Community Pharmacy Expansion

AMARILLO, Texas—New research has found that nearly three-quarters of hospital and pharmacy leaders say the urgency to address community gaps in pharmacy access has increased, and will continue to rise over the next three years. As hospitals focus to expand community-focused pharmacy services, their leaders are prioritizing chronic disease adherence, transitions of care and 340B optimization.

These are findings from a newly released industry survey report from VytlOne, a partner across hospitals, health systems and health centers. VytlOne commissioned national health care and technology consultancy Sage Growth Partners to independently recruit and survey 100 executives and pharmacy leaders at hospitals and health systems in the third quarter of 2025. The survey participants included executives and pharmacy leaders representing a range of health systems, integrated delivery networks and independent community hospitals.

The report, “Reviving Access, Reclaiming Revenue: Strengthening Hospitals and Communities Through Strategic Pharmacy Expansion,” shows how hospitals are realizing that pharmacy is no longer just a service, but rather a factor that directly impacts both patient outcomes and revenue, according to VytlOne.

“Given the increasing urgency to address widening community gaps in pharmacy access, hospital and health system leaders are prioritizing program expansion, service optimization and workforce recruitment and retention, as well as investing in facility upgrades and digital health and IT [information technology] infrastructure,” said Joel Wright, president, pharmacy services, VytlOne. “Executives who are not strategically leveraging their pharmacy services are missing substantial opportunities to drive new revenue and achieve cost savings.”

VytlOne said this research also shows the power of pharmacy solution-specific partnerships. The survey found that 72% of health systems that have aligned with external pharmacy services partners expressed that they capitalize well on revenue generation opportunities—compared to just 32% that do not work with an external partner.

“Our research shows that hospitals have a significant opportunity to transform their pharmacy services into competitive differentiators,” said Dan D’Orazio, CEO of Sage Growth Partners. “Successfully expanding community-focused pharmacy services will require investments in new technologies and partnerships to leverage real-time data and analytics, improve capture rates, reduce script leakage and maximize contributions to overall revenue. Doing this will have a positive impact on overall community health outcomes.” 

Other key findings of the report include:

• 56% of those surveyed rate pharmacy access in their community as only being fair.
• In 2025, more health system leaders reported that inpatient pharmacy services and 340B programs accounted for over 15% of total operating income, compared to 2024.
• 97% of hospital and pharmacy leaders agree that improving community pharmacy access can positively impact overall community health outcomes.
• Hospitals are increasing investment in internal pharmacy operations and external vendor partnership, particularly in outpatient and specialty pharmacy services.
• Despite the growing focus, just 21% of leaders say their organization has a defined pharmacy strategy aligned with financial goals.
• 92% say that transforming pharmacy services can be a competitive differentiator for their hospital, but only 18% are confident they can meet pharmacy demand.