Pharmacists Can Play Central Role in Patients’ Infusion Services | ASHP Midyear 2025

Amid the high-cost nature and minimal accessibility, patients’ ability to receive infusion center services relies significantly on provider engagement and guidance. With several gaps in the delivery of these services across health systems, experts believe pharmacists can play a major role based on their drug-drug knowledge and expertise in administering and managing medications.

“I think the pharmacist is at the center of all of this for our patients,” Prateek Bhatia, PhD, vice president and general manager of intrafusion at McKesson, told Drug Topics. “When I think about an infusion service line, it's not just the infusion portion of it. I think the pharmacists can play such a central role in really becoming the so-called quarterback of a patient's holistic care.”

Drug Topics caught up with Bhatia at the 2025 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition to discuss his insights on trends in infusion services.

From the health systems and insurers to the specialty pharmacies and their patients, Bhatia encapsulates just who these services impact and what entities exist for addressing gaps in infusion care. Furthermore, he addressed current technologies making an impact—such as automation and intravenous pumps—as well as the administrative and nonclinical barriers persisting in the infusion space.

“These patients suffer from multiple disease states, often getting multiple drugs; not just infusion, but they might be getting oral drugs. As a pharmacist, think about also that polypharmacy is a huge challenge for these patients,” he concluded. “Think about when a patient is starting on a new infusion therapy, or maybe you're increasing the dosage of an existing infusion that the patient might be on, how does that interplay within the patient's overarching disease states, [or in] other drugs or therapies that they might be taking. [It’s] really looking at the med-med interactions.”

READ MORE: ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition

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