Technology Helps Pharmacists Navigate Complex Specialty Care | Asembia AXS26

Advances in specialty and complex care are creating unprecedented opportunities for patients—but also unprecedented complexity. Ryan Telford, vice president of health system pharmacy portfolio strategy at Cencora, explains how pharmacies and health systems can harness innovation, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure patients actually realize the benefits of breakthrough therapies.

Specialty medications often come with challenging access, adherence, and financial hurdles. Telford emphasizes that the core mission for pharmacies is to simplify this complexity for patients. That means helping patients navigate treatment options, coverage and costs, and life-changing therapies as quickly as possible, with the lowest possible financial barriers. Community pharmacies, hospitals, and health systems all have a critical role in making specialty care more accessible and less overwhelming.

Technology and AI are highlighted as key enablers, not replacements for clinical expertise. Automation and digital tools can streamline routine, administrative, and operational tasks so pharmacists can practice at the top of license. By freeing pharmacists from lower-value work, health systems can redeploy their expertise to high-impact clinical activities, patient counseling, and care coordination.

Telford also addresses the double-edged nature of information in the AI era. Although AI can surface vast amounts of data, patients often struggle to interpret it and apply it to their daily lives. This creates a pivotal opportunity for pharmacists to remain a human in the loop, using clinical judgment to translate complex information into personalized, actionable guidance.

“The value there is in being able to pull all of that disparate information together to put it at the fingertips of both patients and pharmacists,” he said. “[But] be very critical of what that process looks like in making sure that that human in the loop is positioned right at the point where that patient can get the most out of the expertise that the pharmacist has.”