Keeping Focus on Bottom Line Amid Industrywide Changes in Pharmacy

Amid legislation set to impact the entire pharmacy industry in 2025, pharmacists continue to deal with the pressures of a shrinking workforce, consistent drug shortages, and industrywide changes. To best navigate these pressures, pharmacists must utilize every tool to maximize efficiency and keep up with future trends.

“I think there [are] just so many variables right now that haven’t been put into a playbook yet that it’s almost hard to speculate how this is actually going to impact us all,” said Scot Rewerts, CPhT, director of procurement and strategic partnerships at Thrifty White Pharmacy in Minnesota.

Rewerts and Hunsicker hosted a webinar titled "Navigating 2025 Pharmacy Procurement Trends." | image credit: Phoenix AI Photo / stock.adobe.com

Rewerts joined Calvin Hunsicker, BSPharm, founder of SureCost, for a SureCost-sponsored webinar focused on looming pharmacy changes in 2025. Rewerts and Hunsicker provided their expert insights on how to keep the pharmacy business successful amid unprecedented change.

READ MORE: Drug Price Increases Lead to Future Cost Savings for Medicare Beneficiaries

Inflation Reduction Act

Hunsicker began with an overview of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2025, with Rewerts explaining how pharmacies are expected to experience these changes.

“Medicare [is inserting] itself…with the manufacturer to set limits or provide rebates back directly to Medicare to o set the higher costs,” Hunsicker said. With provisions that give Medicare price-negotiating power with some of the industry’s largest manufacturers, the law was designed to improve medication access for older patients needing lifesaving drugs commonly prescribed to that population.

Despite this power shift, Rewerts believes pharmacies have already gotten a taste of how the IRA will play out in upcoming years—and that pharmacists should be aware of the price shifts coming.

Biosimilars are also set to show continuous growth in 2025. “We’ve seen some of the larger-branded drugs have biosimilars launch. There [are] different things that are coming at us that we’re going to have to navigate,” Rewerts said. “How are those going to be treated by the payers, the wholesalers; what are patients going to think?”

Drug Supply Chain Security Act

The Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), with its delays and updates, is another change set to impact thousands of pharmacy businesses.

“There’s been yet another delay of DSCSA requirements for pharmacy, and that’s been a good thing,” Hunsicker said. “We were seeing that the industry wasn’t ready.” With consistent changes to this legislation meant to fully prepare all parties for DSCSA alignment, it is yet another looming industry change that pharmacies have been warned about.

Other Challenges in 2025

With so many constant yet gradual shifts in the pharmacy industry, it is not impossible for pharmacists to stay educated on what is coming down the line. However, it can be difficult to navigate as other industry trends create obstacles.

“From reimbursement, you don’t have the ability to actually charge more,” Hunsicker said. “Your only lever in terms of getting more profitable is really to find opportunities to save more,” Hunsicker added, explaining the importance of consolidating purchasing and having one platform to ensure pharmacies get the right products at the right times and prices.

The two also touched on how being data-driven can affect a pharmacy’s bottom line. Rather than sticking with gut feelings about which decisions to make regarding product purchasing, Hunsicker believes that pharmacists should let data inform future decisions. The more data captured, the more informed a pharmacist’s decisions will be, and technology can assist all data-driven decisions.

“Keeping the eye on the ball from an operational standpoint, how you can actually run your operation more efficiently is going to pay huge dividends, regardless of what happens with some of the policies. You have the data and access that if things do change, you’re more aware of the impact and how to overcome that,” Hunsicker concluded.

To read these stories and more, download the PDF of the Total Pharmacy February issue here. Visit here for an on-demand look at the SureCost webinar.

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