Clinical Pharmacy Roles: Growth & Staffing Challenges | ASHP
- hospitals are increasingly integrating pharmacists into clinical care, but many are struggling to fill roles and maintain staff, according to the 2024 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists National...
- More than 75% of hospitals now assign pharmacists to provide direct care to most inpatients, with the highest clinical involvement in general medical-surgical (73.3%), critical care (68.5%), oncology...
- Despite the growth, hospitals report significant challenges across the pharmacy workforce.
U.S. hospitals are increasingly integrating pharmacists into clinical care, but many are struggling to fill roles and maintain staff, according to the 2024 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists National Survey of Pharmacy Practice in Hospital Settings.
More than 75% of hospitals now assign pharmacists to provide direct care to most inpatients, with the highest clinical involvement in general medical-surgical (73.3%), critical care (68.5%), oncology (56.9%), cardiology (48.5%), infectious disease (48.1%) and emergency departments (46.5%).
Despite the growth, hospitals report significant challenges across the pharmacy workforce. Nearly 88% cited shortages of experienced pharmacy technicians and more than 92% reported shortages of sterile-compounding technicians. About 60% of hospitals also reported shortages of clinical pharmacy specialists and 64% reported a shortage of entry-level technicians.
The survey included responses from 250 hospitals, with results weighted to provide national estimates.