Outpatient Pharmaceutical Spending to Outpace Hospital Pharmaceutical Spending in 2025
A growing trend towards pharmaceutical outpatient treatment spending is driven by accessibility, according to Eric Tichy, Pharm.D., M.B.A., vice chair of pharmacy formulary at the Mayo Clinic Health System.
Pharmaceutical spending in outpatient clinics in 2025 is predicted to be nearly three times greater than spending at hospitals, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. In 2025, clinic spending is projected to increase 11% to 13%, while hospital spending is expected to increase 2% to 4%.
This rise can be attributed to the increasing popularity and accessibility of outpatient clinics when compared to more expensive hospital visits.
“Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals, if you think about the location of retail pharmacies in every community,” lead author Eric Tichy, Pharm.D., M.B.A., vice chair of pharmacy formulary at the Mayo Clinic Health System, said in a recent video interview with Managed Healthcare Executive. “If you can diagnose something in the pharmacy and then pair it up with the appropriate therapy, it improves the time to treatment and accessibility and it also reduces administrative burdens on other health care providers.”
Eric Tichy, Pharm.D., M.B.A.
The demand for accessibility was partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to keep people out of healthcare facilities, and we needed to treat masses of people,” Tichy said. “Giving pharmacists increased ability to give things like vaccines and other therapeutics, that really makes it a lot easier.”
Tichy also explained that this trend towards outpatient care could lead to more at-home treatment options and said that self-administered drugs have been a long-term focus of the pharmaceutical industry.
Newsletter
Get the latest industry news, event updates, and more from Managed healthcare Executive.
A Conversation with Jeremiah Johnson, Executive Director of PrEP4All
July 25th 2025Jeremiah Johnson, executive director of PrEP4All, an organization committed to HIV prevention and care, talks about the importance of preexposure anaphylaxis and why he’s hesitant to jump on the Lenacapavir breakthrough bandwagon.
Read More
Conversations with Perry and Friends: Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA
July 7th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the "Conversations with Perry and Friends" podcast. In this episode, Cohen speaks with Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA, CEO and founder of Banjo Health, an artificial intelligence company focused on prior authorization.
Listen
Conversations With Perry and Friends: Paul Fronstin, Ph.D.
May 9th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the Conversations with Perry and Friends podcast. In this episode, his guest is Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., director of health benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Listen
FDA Accepts Tabelecleucel BLA; Priority Review Granted for Post-Transplant Disease Therapy
July 24th 2025The FDA has accepted the resubmitted BLA for tabelecleucel (tab-cel), intended for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD).
Read More
