ASHP Statement on the Roles and Responsibilities of the Pharmacy Executive.

Abstract

Leading hospitals and health systems must have a strategic and innovative pharmacy executive who plans and oversees the design and operation of the entire and complex medication-use process throughout the system. It is essential that this leader report to an executive who can help the leader execute the practice models of tomorrow that include business outside normal hospital practice. As the most knowledgeable leader of the medication-use process, this leader (may be referred to as the “chief pharmacy officer” but hereafter “the pharmacy executive”) proactively aligns pharmacy goals with strategic organizational initiatives to advocate for pharmacy practice advancement and improved patient care. The intrinsic value a pharmacy executive brings to the organization’s enterprise and executive leadership includes the following: ... Significant changes in pharmacy practice, healthcare, and health-system management over the past 20 years have dramatically transformed the traditional role of the pharmacy director.1 More widespread use of the title “chief pharmacy officer” was first proposed in 2000 in an attempt to meet these new transformations and to enhance the contribution pharmacy makes to patient care by creating organizational parity between the pharmacy executive and other executive officers (e.g., chief nursing, medical, and information officers).2