From Silos to Synergy: HR and Pharmacy Leaders is a Match Made in Pharmacy Benefits Heaven

Pharmacy leaders at hospitals or health systems have a dual role that’s unique to healthcare – not only do they lead the everyday business operations, but they also serve as trusted in-house advisors for planning employee pharmacy benefits.

In fact, according to a recent RxBenefits survey, 97% of hospital pharmacy leaders say their human resources (HR) teams look to them for employee benefits plan expertise.* That makes sense because after all, who understands the inner workings of benefits plans – from formulary design to medication access, and alternative therapy options – better than the pharmacists who live it every day?

But let’s flip the script: how can HR support pharmacy leaders?

HR teams focus on driving engagement, communicating benefits effectively, and incentivizing behaviors that improve outcomes. When pharmacy and HR teams work together, they can design more robust, sustainable benefits, and a more seamless experience for their employees with the added advantage of boosting business to their in-house pharmacy.

The key is to break down the silos that keep HR and Pharmacy from fully leveraging each other’s strengths.

Learn how strategic support helped one hospital see significant savings.

Why This Partnership Matters Now More Than Ever

Balancing a plan’s financial sustainability with employee well-being is tough and getting tougher.

The cost of specialty medications continues to rise, potential PBM reforms add to uncertainty over future planning, and pharmacy benefits continue to be a critical component of care.

Five Best Practices for Strengthening HR-Pharmacy Collaboration

Successful collaboration starts with transparency.

Ensuring Pharmacy and HR teams understand each other’s goals is the first step in creating a mutually beneficial partnership. By clearly defining priorities for your hospital – whether it’s cost control, employee retention, or workforce wellness – both teams can work toward aligned objectives.

Working together also strengthens financial planning. As hospitals navigate evolving cost considerations, a unified approach between HR and pharmacy leaders helps create a clearer, more accurate picture of pharmacy spend and potential areas for savings for Chief Financial Officers.

2. Identify Opportunities for Mutual Support

HR teams often struggle with managing the complexities of medication trends and cost containment, while pharmacy teams need HR’s support in driving awareness and engagement. By exchanging expertise, both teams can:

Leverage in-house resources to improve employee access and affordability. For hospitals with 340B programs, thoughtful collaboration can help optimize program benefits while maintaining compliance.
Increase utilization of on-site pharmacies through HR-driven incentives and employee education

3. Understand Employee Behavior

Effective pharmacy benefits are only valuable if employees can access and afford them. Conducting workforce health surveys and analyzing prescription utilization trends can highlight gaps in engagement.

With this data, HR and Pharmacy leaders can collaborate on strategies that drive higher participation and adherence.

4. Measure and Calibrate

Tracking the impact of HR-Pharmacy initiatives is key to demonstrating ROI. Talk to each other about what success looks like and assign key performance indicators (KPIs) including:

Increase in employees’ utilization of on-site pharmacies
Cost savings from formulary optimization and biosimilar adoption
Per-member-per-month (PMPM) savings

Don’t forget to share your successes with leadership to help build momentum and secure executive buy-in for further initiatives. Whether it’s specialty drug cost savings, increased pharmacy utilization, or better employee health outcomes, sharing measurable improvements can reinforce the value of the partnership.

Take the First Step

Building a stronger HR-pharmacy partnership starts with the right strategy. At RxBenefits, we specialize in working with hospital pharmacy and HR teams to optimize their benefits – from thorough financial analysis to objective, human-led clinical management and PMPM savings and ROI guarantees. We operate independently from the PBMs and are aligned to your goals and economics.

We also help hospital in-house pharmacies identify opportunities to increase utilization within their employee base, ensuring that more prescriptions stay within the hospital system – benefiting both employees and the bottom line.

Click here to learn more about how our team can help your hospital or health system achieve its unique goals.

*Internal RxBenefits hospital survey, 2024. Sample size of 101 respondents.