Anyone working in health care today knows the landscape is not getting any simpler. Patients move across more care settings than ever before, treatment options continue to expand, and health systems face constant pressure to improve outcomes while managing costs. Increasingly, the systems connecting care are proving just as important as the treatments themselves.
That thread runs throughout this issue of Pharmacy Practice in Focus: Health Systems. Although infectious disease, cardiovascular care, weight management, and behavioral health may be clinically diverse, they share a common challenge: helping patients navigate increasingly complex care journeys while ensuring treatment remains safe, coordinated, and effective.
Recent policy developments reflect that reality. The US House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means recently advanced the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act, legislation that would expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to pharmacist-provided testing and treatment services in states where those services are already authorized.1 As payment models and access pathways evolve, pharmacists must keep demonstrating their value through outcomes. The results continue to speak for themselves.
Pharmacists are already helping close gaps across the care continuum, whether supporting patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections, managing the complexities of HIV and hepatitis B virus coinfection, optimizing therapies for patients with cardiovascular diseases, or guiding palliative care teams. Pharmacists are often helping connect services, teams, and patients across the continuum of care.
This is especially evident during transitions of care. Medication discrepancies occur in as many as two-thirds of patients during care transitions, and nearly 33% carry the potential for harm if left unresolved.2 As electronic health records become more interoperable and health systems invest in predictive analytics and risk stratification tools, pharmacy teams are gaining earlier visibility into patients at risk for hospitalization, medication-related complications, or disease progression. Those insights create opportunities to intervene sooner, address care gaps, and prevent problems before they become adverse events.
Supply chain readiness highlights another layer of that infrastructure—one that patients rarely see but greatly depend on. Drug shortages remain a persistent challenge across health systems nationwide, with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reporting more than 200 active shortages requiring ongoing clinical and operational management.3 Behind every one of those shortages is a patient waiting for treatment and a team working hard to ensure safe alternatives remain available.
The story doesn’t stop with today’s therapies, either—each one requires coordination across clinical and operational teams. Looking further ahead, the pipeline for gene, cell, and RNA therapies continues to expand rapidly, with more than 4200 therapies currently in development worldwide.4 As these therapies are adopted more widely in clinical practice, health systems must develop updated workflows, enhance supply chain operations, implement effective payer strategies, and establish robust models for long-term monitoring. Pharmacists are increasingly helping design, implement, and sustain these programs as health systems prepare for the next generation of care.
Several topics in this issue also reflect a broader shift occurring throughout health care. As therapies become more sophisticated and patients need more individualized care, success increasingly depends on what happens between visits, between care settings, and between clinical encounters. Effective outcomes in chronic disease management, behavioral health, infectious diseases, and supportive care are frequently determined by ongoing patient involvement, diligent follow-up, and coordinated efforts among the health care team.
We see this every day in the management of chronic disease, where long-term success often depends as much on coordination and follow-up as it does on the initial treatment plan. More than 40% of US adults are living with obesity, underscoring the need for approaches that support prevention, treatment, and long-term health outcomes.5 Pharmacists play an important role across each of these areas, helping patients navigate complex therapies while ensuring care remains grounded in evidence and focused on meaningful outcomes.
None of this is unfamiliar territory for pharmacy. Across care spaces, pharmacists have consistently shown that better outcomes often depend on strengthening the systems surrounding care rather than the care alone.
As health systems navigate workforce pressures, financial constraints, advanced therapies, drug shortages, and rising patient expectations, the role of pharmacists continues to expand in both visibility and impact. Pharmacists are helping organizations manage complexity, improve continuity, and create more connected experiences for the patients who depend on them.
The work featured in this issue is a reminder that pharmacy’s impact extends far beyond medications alone. Every day, pharmacists help make care safer, more connected, and more accessible for the patients and communities we serve.
REFERENCES
House committee advances Medicare access to pharmacist services. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. May 21, 2026. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://news.ashp.org/News/ashp-news/2026/05/21/house-committee-advances
Mueller SK, Sponsler KC, Kripalani S, Schnipper JL. Hospital-based medication reconciliation practices: a systematic review. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(14):1057-1069. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2246
Drug shortages statistics. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.ashp.org/drug-shortages/shortage-resources/drug-shortages-statistics
Gene, Cell, & RNA Therapy Landscape Report: Q1 2026 Quarterly Data Report. American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. April 2026. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.asgct.org/uploads/files/general/Landscape-Report-2026-Q1.pdf
Adult obesity facts. CDC. May 14, 2024. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult-obesity-facts/index.html
