Pharmacy's next frontier: How AI and pharmacy intelligence are turning a cost center into a growth engine


Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT 

Most health systems still treat pharmacy as a line-item expense to control. Leaders at Ochsner Health, St. Luke's Health System, MetroHealth and Yale New Haven Health System are taking a different approach—leveraging pharmacy intelligence, AI-enabled workflows and data-driven decision-making to improve medication access, strengthen financial performance and drive growth.


In this discussion, four pharmacy leaders will walk through the pressures that forced a rethink: rising administrative burden, fragmented patient access and the constant push to do more with constrained margins. They will share what catalyzed change at their organizations, how they built the case for action and what they are seeing across the patient medication journey.

You'll learn:
 
  • The operational and financial pressures driving pharmacy transformation
  • What catalyzed change at leading organizations
  • How enterprise pharmacy intelligence improves access, reduces friction and supports patients
  • The measurable outcomes and growth opportunities health systems can unlock by reimagining pharmacy's role

Presenters: 

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Deborah Simonson, PharmD, CPEL

Chief Pharmacy Officer and Vice President
Ochsner Health

Josh Weber - Sarah Simon

Joshua Weber, PharmD, MBA-HCM, CSP, BCMTMS, 340B ACE

Senior Director, Ambulatory, Retail and Specialty Pharmacy Services, St. Luke's Health System

Ryan Mezinger - Sarah Simon

Ryan Mezinger, RPh, CPEL

Senior Vice President, Chief Pharmacy Officer, MetroHealth

Marjorie Lazarre - Sarah Simon

Marjorie Lazarre, PharmD, MHA

Chief Pharmacy Officer, Yale New Haven Health System