The role of the chief pharmacy officer in leading analytics strategy to support the enterprise

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Information drives patient care and financial stewardship, yet in current practice many health systems may not see data as an asset.¹ Centralized data analytics teams may be siloed away from operational customers and are not included in business decisions—or they are pulled into the conversation late in the game, with high expectations creating tension and potential lost productivity. Analytics cannot be an afterthought in driving business and process decisions, which often stems from a lack of analytics leadership, strategy, and program governance.

As a chief pharmacy officer (CPO), one expects that, at times, reports that were generated external to the pharmacy department will be received. Often, these reports are financial in nature, with significant potential impact on the enterprise. However, without a strong understanding of the pharmacy business, there is typically information missing or misrepresented in these data. CPOs and their teams must be prepared to not only respond to such reports but proactively develop a strategy to narrate the pharmacy value story (eg, explaining the financial impact of the health-system specialty pharmacy and 340B Drug Pricing Program participation, demonstrating pharmacy’s role in improving patient care outcomes and meeting organizational quality measures, showcasing how accreditation and compliance is being maintained, and so forth).²