Reflecting on NASP 2025: the future of specialty pharmacy

I had the opportunity to attend the NASP Specialty Pharmacy Conference this year with VPL, and I walked away excited about the direction our field is headed. Specialty pharmacy continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and this meeting highlighted many of the innovative actions people in this profession are taking every day to shape the way we deliver care.

These are the three themes that stood out to me most:

working with ai

AI as a Partner, Not a Replacement

AI is no longer a futuristic concept and is already being applied in countless specialty pharmacy settings. I was hard pressed to find a single presentation this year that didn’t mention AI in some form or another. From predicting risks to adherence, to automated prior authorization support, to natural language processing that streamlines documentation, AI is already impacting workflows today. Rather than replacing human roles, AI seems to be an amazing tool to reduce administrative burden, improve accuracy and efficiency, and allows pharmacists and staff to spend more time on patient-centered care.

forward thinking

The Future is Individualized Care

Specialty pharmacy is at the forefront of precision medicine. We’re seeing more therapies designed for novel targets, designed for extremely rare disease states, and gene therapies that completely alter the course of a life-changing health condition. Research and development of these medications, and every single individual involved in getting these drugs to the patients, is something very important to me and is something that has helped me on a very personal level. Lastly, we also can utilize pharmacogenomics to guide not only drug selection but also drug dosing strategies. This shift toward individualized care further emphasizes why specialty pharmacy plays such a vital role in advancing science and its impact on real-world patients.

backbone of security

Technology as the Engine of Medication Safety

Medication safety and technology are like two peas in a pod. Specialty pharmacies are leaning heavily into both. ISMP’s Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Community Pharmacies provided a strong framework for how to best reduce preventable harm. On the dispensing side, tools like barcode scanning, robotic dispensing, and automated workflows are reducing errors and standardizing quality. Ultimately, technology is becoming the backbone of medication safety. It helps pharmacists, providers, and staff ensure the right drug reaches the right patient, at the right dose, through the right route at the right time.

Leaving NASP, I am excited for the future of specialty pharmacy. I met some of the smartest individuals in the profession there that are working tirelessly every day to transform the profession for the better. As trends with AI, precision medicine, and tech-driven safety continue to accelerate, pharmacists and staff will be more important than ever to ensure that innovation translates into the best outcomes for our patients.