The pharmacy leadership competency gap: diagnosis and prescription.

The purpose of this paper is to inform the health administration community and its educators about the importance of pharmacy leadership, the competencies associated with the role, and a suggested path to achieve a greater number of pharmacy leaders. The role of the pharmacy leader is often unrecognized or undervalued, yet it has significant implications for many facets of the healthcare delivery organization, including the cost of care, patient safety and quality, the influence and potential involvement of the pharmacist in the hospital or health system. Hospitals and health systems should recognize the power of an effective pharmacy leader, and strive to fill those positions. Unfortunately, should care leaders demand high performing pharmacy leaders, they will find that such individuals are in short supply, and will become more rare with time because of an aging pharmacy workforce. The health administration education community must respond to the demand by marrying pharmacy management education with the Master's in Health Administration degree (MHA). This article proposes the creation of a PharmD/MHA dual degree program, giving clinically trained pharmacists the skills they need to be effective managers and leaders in hospitals and health systems.