I was fully anticipating a summer filled with coffee orders, refilling printer paper, and answering phones; however, I started programming within the first few weeks and have not left since. As a college student, I'd always had an interest in computers, coding, and particularly systems, but until that internship, I had not realistically envisioned myself in a world where those interests were the focus daily. Once I got a taste of it, I was hooked for good. Now -- nearly 25 years later -- I always find myself in anticipation for what a new year can mean for the pharmaceutical industry.

I watched as the boom of technological advancements in the 2000s changed the way healthcare professionals communicated with each other, saved and shared data with patients, and more. Well throughout the 2010s, I grew and differentiated my own skill set while also watching as key players and health systems did this for themselves as well. Each of these years were marked with their own set of challenges and trends, with some standing out more than others. As we all work to wrap up the year and enter into 2025, there are certainly a few trends that I know I'll have my eyes peeled for in the coming months and beyond.

Remedying pharmacy staff and customer experiences

From pharmacist burnout and the continued ramifications of Covid-19 to pharmacy deserts and decreasing customer satisfaction scores, both staff and patients are in need of support. For staff, we continue to see the trending issue of labor shortages and burnout, particularly in the years encompassing and following the worst of Covid-19, which has further contributed to instability for pharmacies nationwide. The eighth edition of the Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Report, published in March of this year, showed glaringly negative experiences reported by pharmacy staff centered around workplace conditions, heavy workloads, flawed workflows, and limitations in communication with management. The report pointed to these being ongoing problems pharmacists and technicians have been facing regularly within their roles for the last several years. Given the year-to-year continuation of these issues, remedies and resolutions are sure to be proposed and implemented in the coming year to minimize these problems.

When we look at patients, the demand for medication is a clear factor to consider. Data published by American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy pointed to U.S. trends surrounding pharmaceutical drugs with findings that included a 6.5% increase in prescription usage from 2022 to 2023. The team behind this data pointed to an estimated range of 10-12% growth in general for prescription drug spending in 2024. With increased usage comes a greater patient reliance on pharmacy staff, which we know are already facing their own set of obstacles. J.D. Power published its 2024 U.S. Pharmacy Study which showed that customers reported lower satisfaction scores associated with their experiences at conventional pharmacies due to factors such as wait times and struggles faced when ordering their prescriptions. Pharmacy deserts are another overarching barrier that is growing concern across the U.S. with new research coming out of Ohio State University finding that 46% of the 3,143 counties studied had at least one pharmacy desert within it.

Shifting perceptions on the role that pharmacists play

We know that pharmacists play a leading role, if not the leading role, in ensuring that patients have a positive and beneficial experience with their medications. If you ask a typical customer what the job of a pharmacist is, they will likely say something along the lines of "My pharmacist is responsible for filling my medications"; however, many professionals within the industry are striving to change this perception. In this case, there is a push for pharmacists to be viewed as treatment providers. By referencing what the prescriber, the doctor, has prescribed to treat their diagnosed issue as well as connecting with the patient. In building a rapport with the patient, the pharmacist would go over the medication they will be receiving as well as offer a holistic recommendation for complementary efforts that can support the patient's recovery or lifestyle change. These suggestions range from what food to add to one's diet, what type of exercise can be beneficial, and other modifications that can be supportive.

Pharmacists are highly educated and knowledgeable professionals who - if given the opportunity, time, and platform - can further collaborate with patients by looking at what they do, what they are facing in life, and what they are consuming, to determine the best course of treatment. The mentality can be shifted from "this is who gives me my meds" to "this is who works with me to craft my steps for treatment, management or recovery". While this will require years of advocacy and education, we may hear whispers of it in the coming year as more and more people search for ways to make the industry more efficient and patient-centric.

Asking questions to redefine the future of pharmacy

As we enter into 2025, we have to ask ourselves what the next quarter century should look like. Let's identify successes and lessons learned across the industry over the last 25 years and consider what we need to do to help redefine the future of pharmacy. This must be a collaborative effort where we analyze factors such as cost to fill, the complexity of infrastructure, new technologies, gaps in access, and much more. As an individual that can play a part in this, I am viewing many of these issues from a pharmacy automation lens. Imagine what could be accomplished by openly asking questions and joining forces with others that understand these problems from a health system, discovery, manufacturing, business, and day-to-day operations point of view. Just like my 20-something-year-old self, we will never know until we try, and if we do, we might be on the cusp of something extraordinary.

Photo: Stuart Ritchie, Getty Images

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