How AI & analytics are impacting pharmacy operations
“The job of data analytics is to derive insight,” shared Aigner George, PharmD, HealthTrust’s Assistant Vice President, Performance Solutions, as she moderated a panel of pharmacy executives during an HTU conference presentation in 2025.
While data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) have been used in healthcare for some time, using the tools today is about much more than running reports. The challenge is making data actionable and communicating it clearly. As for AI, panelists agreed that one of its best uses is in bolstering analytics and operationalizing them. AI can help perform tasks and support providers in making more informed decisions.
Data analytics in pharmacy
Visualizing the insights which analytics provide for the pharmacy team at Beacon Health System is accomplished through an inventory optimization program, shares Jeanne Anderson, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, Executive Director of the organization’s Pharmacy Services. The program combines purchase history and utilization data to help forecast days on hand and suggest optimal inventory levels across most of Beacon’s sites. “It has also been instrumental when looking at shortage situations,” she explains. The technology helps Beacon assess the risk of shortages, how soon it might be affected and what alternative medications or suppliers exist.
In a previous role, Jennifer Higdon, PharmD, MBA, MS, (now Vice President, Pharmacy Services, Ardent Health), shared that the pharmacy team was able to visualize data from the electronic health record (EHR) and Pyxis by merging the information into an actionable report. Doing so allows pharmacy staff to quickly and easily see if there’s truly a need to order the items that Pyxis is recommending. “While bringing those two pieces of data together sounds simple, to do so manually would be laborious. Automating it can save hours of time for staff, which equates to dollars,” she explains.
Two data visualization tools at ScionHealth have been invaluable, explains Derek Szesny, PharmD, MPH, BCGP, CPEL, Vice President of Pharmacy & Clinical Supply Utilization. One is a demand-forecasting dashboard that accounts for sourcing, repackaging and delivery time across their locations nationwide. “Without a tool like that, we wouldn’t be able to operationalize the program at the system level and keep our overall inventory costs under control,” he says. “It’s driven a tremendous amount of value, averaging about $1 million in savings annually through the program.”
The second tool is a dashboard that provides monthly feedback to leadership and staff across ScionHealth on the quality measures related to attaining its national goals. “We can see how we are performing against our organization’s benchmarks and compared to colleagues within our organization. It allows us to make sure we can resource staff accordingly to drive performance and quality improvement,” he says.
Cautious optimism
“While AI is top-of-mind right now, ScionHealth has been cautious about diving too quickly into the pool,” Szesny says.But when it does, he thinks using AI to eliminate manual processes will be valuable to recoup labor savings. “If you can work through some of the necessary due diligence and governance framework, it would be the appropriate time to automate what are currently manual processes and help us redeploy soft-dollar savings toward more value-added or topof- license work,” he explains.
According to Anderson, Beacon is using AI for drug diversion surveillance, with software replacing manual and fragmented processes with standardized monitoring systemwide. George shares that another HealthTrust member organization she works with is engaging their Compliance and Informatics teams to use AI to reduce false positives and pinpoint where deeper investigation is needed.
“AI has been beneficial and provides good visibility,” Anderson adds, “but it’s not a cure-all.”
Panelists agreed that while the potential uses of AI are exciting, pharmacy leaders must thoughtfully consider a number of related factors before more fully incorporating it and other technologies into their daily responsibilities or workflows. George says the industry will continue to weigh and explore data misinterpretation, AI hallucinations, carbon footprint, liability, ethics, cost, governance and staff education. “As the science matures and responsible use cases emerge in pharmacy, HealthTrust looks forward to sharing scalable best practices with members through education and collaboration.”
Key takeaways for pharmacy leaders
- Insight drives value. Data analytics is most powerful when translated into clear, actionable insights—not just reports.
- Simple integrations matter. Merging EHR & inventory data can significantly reduce manual work & unnecessary orders.
- Forecasting fuels savings. Demand-forecasting dashboards can help control inventory costs & generate substantial annual savings.
- AI reduces manual burden. Emerging applications—like drug diversion surveillance & quality reporting—are helping automate time-intensive processes.
- Governance is essential. Before implementing AI, leaders must address ethics, liability, data accuracy, cost & staff education.
Listen to the full HTU 2025 session.
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