Leadership role
Director of Pharmacy
Directs pharmacy services in a hospital, health system, clinic or other health care setting.
Reporting and scope
Typically reports to a COO, VP of Operations or the chief medical or nursing executive. Authority covers the pharmacy department, medication use and pharmacy licensure.
Core responsibilities
- Holds or oversees pharmacy licenses and controlled-substance registrations
- Sets medication use policies with the pharmacy and therapeutics committee
- Manages drug purchasing, inventory and 340B program compliance where applicable
- Supervises pharmacists and technicians
- Monitors medication safety and error reporting
- Prepares the pharmacy budget and drug spending forecasts
How it differs
Medical Director / CMO oversees physicians and prescribing broadly. Director of Clinical Services covers direct care. Director of Pharmacy is a licensed pharmacist leading the pharmacy department.
By organization size
In small hospitals and community health centers the director is often the only or lead pharmacist on staff. Large health systems have pharmacy directors at each site under a system-level pharmacy executive.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Pharmacy Director; Director of Pharmacy; Director Pharmacy; Director, Pharmacy; Director - Pharmacy; Dir Pharmacy