Three Ways Technology Can Help Elevate the Role of the Pharmacist in Value-Based Care

Not long ago, pharmacists were proudly perched atop the list of America’s most trusted professionals. We were the familiar faces behind the counter—the trusted medical professionals who not only knew our patients’ medications but also their names, their families, and their medical histories. It has been reported that pharmacists have lost some relative level of trust in the eyes of the public.¹ What’s changed? 

Behind the counter, a lot. The corporatization of pharmacy has accelerated, and our workflows have grown much more complex and tedious. These administrative burdens, coupled with broader systemic challenges within the pharmacy supply chain, have eroded pharmacists’ ability to serve as accessible health care providers to their patients. Large, vertically integrated intermediaries now dictate the pace and priorities of care for most pharmacists across the country, turning them into operators measured by the number of prescriptions they fill, the vaccines they administer, and even the time they take to pick up a ringing phone. 

These are the pressures of working in a system where more time is spent navigating barriers and managing inventory than engaging with patients and providing expert guidance. Pharmacists’ swim lanes have narrowed, leading to a correlated rise in burnout.² 

As a licensed pharmacist who served as a community pharmacist earlier in my career, this evolution in the profession has been heartbreaking to witness. How do we reclaim and elevate the vital role that community pharmacists play in delivering needed care to members of the community?

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s Standard of Care model,³ if adopted, would be an important step in this direction, giving the health care system a framework that prioritizes their pharmacists’ professional expertise and elevates their roles as frontline providers of care. In the interim, there are technologies and strategies the industry can embrace to make a difference now. 

More patients are using mail-order pharmacies and home delivery every year, reducing in-person interactions at pharmacy counters. That doesn’t mean we need to fade into the background of care. We need the ability to retain relationships with patients who need our guidance, regardless of how they receive their medications. 

Virtual pharmacist consultations could bridge the gaps left by a lack of personal interaction opportunities at brick-and-mortar locations, ensuring patients still receive expert guidance on their medications. These virtual touchpoints can also facilitate real-time collaboration and alignment with physicians and other members of a patient’s care team when concerns arise about prescriptions. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) will never be able to replace pharmacists. Patients want to interface with their pharmacists more, not less, and according to one study,⁴ patients visit their local pharmacy almost twice as often as they visit their primary care provider. 

That said, AI isn’t going away. The key will be applying AI in ways that streamline and automate the arduous, repetitive tasks that keep pharmacists away from the parts of the job they love the most—the parts that focus on connecting with patients and being part of the care team. AI-enabled tools, for instance, can help with medication inventory management, dispensing medications, and identifying when patients might need help with their medications, making pharmacy care more personalized and affordable.

Consumers expect to be able to find the most affordable products and services relatively easily. They can compare costs and make informed purchasing decisions. Health care has been notoriously averse to this type of transparency. However, it doesn’t need to be. 

Too often, patients don’t realize that there are more affordable alternatives to their prescribed medications—the drugs they take regularly but dread filling because of cost. The burden of responsibility is on them to ask their doctor or pharmacist about their options, when it really should be the other way around. 

This is where technology can help pharmacists proactively identify and present safe, clinically equivalent, cost-effective alternatives in real-time. With drug choice tools in hand, pharmacists can streamline the process of making a switch to an alternative medication that has the same clinical efficacy. In some states, pharmacists already have the authority to switch certain medications at the counter without physician approval.⁵ In these states, technology can help expedite these capabilities.

At the heart of the issue is a diminished connection between pharmacists and their patients. Technology itself can’t fix that. But the Standard of Care model, coupled with technologies like virtual consults, AI-enabled solutions, and drug choice tools, can push pharmacy care into modernity and allow pharmacists to reclaim and elevate their roles as trusted medical professionals. 

For now, technology can be leveraged to strengthen the pharmacist-patient relationship. 

1. Brenan M, Jones JM. Ethics ratings of nearly all professions down in U.S. Gallup. Published January 22, 2024. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://news.gallup.com/poll/608903/ethics-ratings-nearly-professions-down.aspx
2. Hogue MD. CEO statement on walkouts. APhA. Accessed March 19, 2025. https://www.pharmacist.com/CEO-Blog/ceo-statement-on-walkouts
3. Task Force to Develop Regulations Based on Standards of Care. Resolution 114-4-18. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. https://nabp.pharmacy/news-resources/resources/reports/annual-meeting-reports/task-force-to-develop-regulations-based-on-standards-of-care-resolution/
4. Valliant SN, Burbage SC, Pathak S, Urick BY. Pharmacists as accessible health care providers: quantifying the opportunity. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2022;28(1):85-90. doi:10.18553/jmcp.2022.28.1.85
5. Rome BN, Sarpatwari A, Kesselheim AS. State Laws and Generic Substitution in the Year After New Generic Competition. Value Health. 2022;25(10):1736-1742. doi:10.1016/j.jval.2022.03.012