Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Joshua Weber, PharmD, MBA-HCM, CSP, BCMTMS, 340B ACE, Senior Director, St. Luke's Health System

Transcript

Joshua Weber, PharmD, MBA-HCM, CSP, BCMTMS, 340B ACE, Senior Director, St. Luke's Health System · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  Welcome to the Becker's Pharmacy Leadership Podcast. I'm
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  Ella Jeffries, pharmacy reporter with Becker's Healthcare.
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  Today, I'm joined by Josh Weber, senior director
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  at St. Luke's Health System. In this episode,
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  we'll be talking about recent pharmacy initiatives, the
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  priorities and headwinds leaders are navigating as we
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  look toward 2026,
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  and where opportunities for growth are emerging across
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  health systems.
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  Josh, thank you so much for joining me
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  today. To start us off, can you introduce
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  yourself and share a bit about your role
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  in at St. Luke's Health System?
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  Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks, Ellie. For first of all,
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  thank you for the opportunity.
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  My name is Josh.
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  As Ellie mentioned, I currently oversee,
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  ambulatory med access retail and specialty pharmacy services
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  here at St. Luke's Health System.
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  St. Luke's is the only Idaho based, non
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  for profit, community owned and community led health
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  system.
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  Our mission is simple but really deeply meaningful,
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  to improve the health of people in the
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  communities we serve
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  across Southern And Central Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and
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  Northern Nevada.
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  From a pharmacy perspective, we support more than
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  25,000
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  patient lives and dispense over 850,000
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  ambulatory prescriptions each year.
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  And I will add, we're on track for
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  1,000,000 this year and really excited for that
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  goal across specialty home delivery and retail settings.
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  What really defines us though is how patient
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  centered our carers. Patients today want easier access,
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  fewer handoffs, faster answers,
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  transparency around cost, and really confidence that someone
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  is advocating for them.
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  Everything we're building here at Saint Saint Luke's,
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  both clinically and operationally, is designed to meet
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  patients where they are and remove friction from
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  their from their care journey.
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  Our vision is to be the community's most
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  trusted partner in health, and pharmacy is one
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  of the most tangible ways we earn that
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  trust every single day.
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  That's great context. Thank you so much for
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  sharing that, Josh.
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  Now thinking back over the past year, what's
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  the most important initiative that you've led? What
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  did you focus on and what results did
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  you see from that?
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  Yeah. Great question. So the most important work
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  we led this past year
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  was really making intentional investments
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  now to build a future ready patient first
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  pharmacy operating model.
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  We fully implemented
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  first paperless workflows across all pharmacy sites, which
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  sounds simple, but for patients, it really means
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  better multilingual
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  and video based education,
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  where applicable, and really removes the right limit
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  and stop to the verification process waiting on
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  that printer.
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  Always one of our favorites.
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  We are now on track to save more
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  than two million patients from entering landfills and
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  also helping with our sustainability
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  efforts.
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  We redesigned our pharmacy delivery workflows using lean
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  six Sigma principles,
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  really eliminated bottlenecks and maximizing throughput
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  to patients
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  so they've received their medications faster and more
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  reliable,
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  especially those managing chronic or complex conditions.
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  We also are about to launch phase one
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  of our central service center fill engine, which
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  really is going to lay the foundation for
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  a much larger phase two automation investment.
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  This work really provides the dispensing system IT
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  components for later investment
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  and improves prescription turnaround times for our patients.
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  On the access side, we implemented
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  AI enabled prior authorizations and appeals workflows
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  across more than 300 clinics, cut in times
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  per PA from fifteen to twenty minutes down
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  to under five minutes.
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  For patients, that translates directly into faster therapy,
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  starts, and fewer, frustrating delays.
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  We also expanded access by securing limited distribution
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  drug and payer networks for five additional specialty
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  and rare disease medications and added a large
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  regional payer,
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  network, bringing care access to an additional 5,000
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  patient lives.
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  Finally, we advanced,
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  advanced centralized benefits investigations
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  directly within our EHR
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  using tools that really proactively guide patients into
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  St. Luke's pharmacies,
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  where we believe that improves continuity of care,
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  affordability,
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  patient outcomes, and the overall patient experience.
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  Now all of these are important investments as
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  the organizations
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  that really win in the future are the
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  ones that align people, technology,
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  and operations around one central truth. When access
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  is delayed, outcomes and trust suffer.
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  For sure. Those are great examples. Thank you
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  so much for sharing.
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  Now looking ahead, what are the big priorities
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  and headwinds you're focused on as you plan
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  for 2026?
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  Yeah. No no shortage of headwinds, but first
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  our priorities. You know, our biggest priority here
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  in 2026
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  is going to be launching phase two of
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  our central services center,
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  central fill pharmacy, which really brings specialty home
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  delivery
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  and true central fill operations together into a
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  single, highly coordinated,
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  conveyor based and and robotically assisted production environment.
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  This integration and centralization
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  matters because patients don't experience care at silos.
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  They experience it as one journey.
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  We're also heavily focused on workforce retention and
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  career growth efforts as excellence for patients starts
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  with engaged, supported employees who see a future
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  here at St. Luke's.
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  Another major priority is advancing value based and
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  population health care models in close partnership with
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  our health plan and clinical partners.
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  Really, our as payers continue to move towards,
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  shared risk and and or pay for performance
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  reimbursement models, we really need to be able
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  to proactively adapt,
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  and and to be able to win accordingly.
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  You know, I really often frame our strategy
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  and priorities,
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  around what I call the five p's.
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  It starts with our people, our employees,
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  our patients,
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  their experience and outcomes,
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  our providers who are really making care easier
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  to deliver every single day,
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  our partners,
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  folks like payers,
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  pharmaceutical
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  manufacturers,
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  vendors, and even state legislators.
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  And when you really get those right, the
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  p and l improves as an as a
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  result, not as the primary driver.
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  On the headwinds front, they're really real and
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  they're constantly shifting. You know, there's there's lots
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  of regulatory uncertain uncertainty in the three forty
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  b space. Every single day, it seems like
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  something's changing there.
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  Increasing direct to patient,
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  disruption,
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  shrinking reimbursement, and then decline in patient enrollment,
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  especially in Medicaid and Medicare populations.
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  Are all pressures we're actively navigating, but really
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  affect our ability to financially model and have
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  financial resiliency in in these changing times?
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  We feel the key is staying focused on
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  patients and the signal even when the environment
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  gets full of noise.
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  Mhmm. For sure. And how would you say
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  that those headwinds are shaping your strategy right
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  now?
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  Yeah. So, again, getting back to, you know,
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  how in in in times where there's financial
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  uncertainty, how do we maximize,
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  our patient access and and do that in
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  a smart and sustainable way?
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  So we can't really control what happens legislatively
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  other than advocacy,
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  but we can control how we respond.
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  And so we're trying to do things smart,
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  and that really means, you know, how do
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  we cut back on on on labor investment
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  that's needed to
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  still accelerate growth, but also doing it in
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  a way that really maximizes patient access.
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  And so one thing it it changes is
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  we we have a couple different models of
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  how we, you know, look at capital investment
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  financial plan in each year, and it really
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  kinda helps us be resilient in the face
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  of change. And so pharmacy is, you know,
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  a strategic enabler
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  and really an an organizational
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  driver of of smart revenue growth.
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  And that's really been a key to our
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  success here at St. Luke's as as we're,
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  definitely positioned well,
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  to really drive organizational
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  success despite all the the change in headlines
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  that we see, in the news and and
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  and some of the bills that are first
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  and last.
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  Definitely.
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  And, you know, along with those priorities do
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  come some tough decisions. What's the hardest thing
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  that you'll have to tackle in the coming
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  year as a pharmacy leader?
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  Yeah. Great question. The the hardest challenge is
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  really balancing accelerated growth that we just talked
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  about
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  with our unwavering commitment to quality and excellence.
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  You know, growth creates opportunity.
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  And and when we say growth, we really
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  want to, you know, be the pharmacy of
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  choice for every patient, every one of those
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  25,000
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  patient lives,
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  in Idaho,
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  but it also introduces
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  risk if you move too fast.
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  You know, our responsibility is to innovate boldly
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  without ever compromising
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  on key principles,
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  such as safety, outcomes, or trust.
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  Patients don't really measure us by how fast
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  we grow. They really measure us by how
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  well we show up when they need us
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  most. And and keeping that balance front and
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  center is both the challenge and and really
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  what I see is the privilege of leadership.
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  Definitely. And how are you preparing your team
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  to tackle this challenge?
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  Yeah. That's a great question. So, you know,
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  getting back to how we focus on our
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  people first, you know, one thing you have
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  to do is you have to actively listen.
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  And and so one of the first things
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  I I did as a new leader here
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  at St. Luke's
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  is really just, have different sessions with our
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  frontline leaders,
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  our system level leaders, and our frontline teams
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  to really understand, you know, what are the
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  pain points,
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  what are the things they want us to
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  act on first, and and what are some
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  of their priorities. And and so that really
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  kinda creates that trust with your employees.
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  And when you do that, you know, it
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  it really kind of helps you first define,
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  you know, what our purpose is.
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  And then from there, how are we going
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  to do,
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  what we need to do to achieve that
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  purpose. Right?
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  I'm a big believer in, you know, to
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  really drive excellence,
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  you have to define how you get there,
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  and then you have to live by that
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  every single day. And so
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  once you build that trust, you lay that
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  foundation,
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  you really encourage your your your employees and
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  and your and your front lines to really
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  lean in on that vision to become the
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  most trusted partner in health, and how do
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  they individually contribute to that. And once you
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  unlock that kind of value prop,
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  really the results comes by themselves.
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  Mhmm. Those were some that was some great
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  leadership advice. Thank you for sharing.
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  Now even with those challenges, there are still
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  areas for growth. Where do you see the
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  best opportunities for organizational growth moving forward?
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  Yeah. The greatest opportunity for sure starts with
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  culture.
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  You know, really building an organization
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  that's nimble,
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  adaptable,
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  and able to quickly pivot as fast as
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  health care is changing.
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  You know, I'm a big, sports fan as
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  well, and really when you see
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  good teams win is when they have a
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  great culture. And we're trying to do that
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  here at St. Luke's with our employees, but
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  but also
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  across our whole health system. How do we
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  really become nimble and adaptable? And that's going
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  to be key. You know, health health care
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  today rewards teams that can learn quickly,
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  really test thoughtfully,
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  test and invest, and then adjust without losing
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  sight of our purpose.
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  From there, community based trust remains our strongest
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  differentiator.
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  Patients really want local care that feels personal,
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  that's coordinated and accountable, and and not transactional.
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  And so if we're able to kind of
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  focus on those efforts, I really think that's
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  going to be a key kind of opportunity
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  for growth. What it what it comes down
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  to is when you combine an agile and
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  and people focused culture with deep community trust
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  and a commitment to define an excellence,
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  you really create growth that's sustainable,
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  meaningful, and genuinely
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  patient centered. And that's our our focus here
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  at St. Luke's in our pharmacy and across
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  our entire organization.
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  Definitely. That's a great focus. And what would
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  you say excites you most about those opportunities?
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  Yeah. A lot of times, that's a great
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  question. You know, we have so many headwinds,
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  so many barriers to care.
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  To me, that's the most exciting time. Right?
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  So those that are truly want to lead,
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  and and I really think that as a
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  privilege,
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  really are inspired. You know, when when things
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  get tough, how do you kinda rise to
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  the occasion and and when? Right? And so
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  I think when you have great teams, when
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  you have great leaders like we do here
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  at St. Luke's, it's it's really fun to
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  kinda
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  see challenges as more as opportunities. Right? We're
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  all facing the same challenges. And I think
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  when you surround yourself with great people, you
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  kinda unlock that, ability to to keep on
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  winning, to keep doing the right thing for
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  our patients,
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  and and to continue to define what excellence
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  means, not only in pharmacy, but in health
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  care, as a whole.
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  For sure. Well, Joshua, this has been a
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  great conversation. Thank you for sharing your perspective
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  and insights with us. That's all for today's
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  episode of the Becker's pharmacy leadership podcast.
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  A big thank you again to Josh Weber
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  for joining us to discuss pharmacy leadership priorities
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  and opportunities at St. Luke's Health System. Thanks
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  for listening, and we'll see you next time.