State of LTC Pharmacy in 2025 | FrameworkFocus™
Forward-Thinking Conversation on the LTC Pharmacy Landscape in the New Year
In Episode 20 of FrameworkFocus™, host Patrick Hussey, President of Pharma Dynamix Consulting, sits down with Dave Emison, Chief Commercial Officer at SDS Rx, to discuss the state of long-term care (LTC) pharmacy as we begin 2025. Together, they explore key challenges and opportunities facing the industry, including labor management, pharmaceutical acquisition, and delivery optimization.
Emison’s career journey is one that provides a dual perspective in the LTC Pharmacy landsape. Before joining SDS Rx, a delivery solution for long-term care pharmacies, Emison spent 18 years at Cardinal Health, one of the biggest names in distribution and healthcare logistics in pharmacy. Emison brings a unique and well-rounded perspective on the entire industry.
“Throughout my career, I’ve really positioned my true north toward being part of a solution in healthcare as it evolves in this country,” Emison noted. “Finding areas where I believe I could have a meaningful impact in a patient’s experience.”
Emison desribes the LTC Pharmacy space as “threading the needle between costs and services.” Hussey noted that the three biggest cogs in the LTC machine would be costs of good sold (drug procurement), labor costs, and delivery costs. The pair agreed that an often overlooked component of the equation is how an effective delivery solution can impact labor costs in a positive way.
“I constantly think, ‘How can we assist pharmacies ensuring that everybody is executing at the top of their license,’” Emison remarked. “In our world, that means creating a very stable, effective, and efficient delivery network… a pharmacist can interact proactively with their customers as needed with delivery data at their fingertips.”
In this episode, you will gain actionable insights on building resilient workplace cultures, negotiating smarter distributor contracts, and implementing innovative delivery solutions to navigate financial pressures and thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Don't miss this forward-looking conversation with practical strategies for success in LTC pharmacy.
“It’s been such a pleasure working in this industry, one that we all need and use when we’re most vulnerable,” Emison added. “I really love — as I am sure all your listeners do — trying to figure out how we can make it a better experience.”
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Framework Focus is focused exclusively on Long-Term Care Pharmacy. We release a new episode on the second Wednesday of every month that addresses the hottest topics in LTC pharmacy through timely interviews with industry trailblazers, thought leaders, and LTC pharmacists. Follow and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen so you do not miss an upcoming episode.