The Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin Workforce Summit: A statewide, multidisciplinary approach to create a pharmacy workforce strategic roadmap

Abstract

Purpose

The Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) Workforce Summit aimed to develop a comprehensive strategic roadmap and near-term tactics to address current and future needs of the pharmacy workforce in Wisconsin. This initiative sought to incorporate multiple stakeholder perspectives, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students, and residents, the Pharmacy Examining Board, schools of pharmacy, employers, and other healthcare professional organizations.

Summary

Despite significant work at the national level to address workforce challenges, Wisconsin pharmacy leaders determined current short-term solutions were not likely to achieve a sustainable workforce for the future. To create a more holistic and durable solution, similar to the goals of other successful ASHP events, a summit was conducted. The summit was organized by the PSW Workforce Summit Planning Committee. The summit recruitment process targeted individuals with effective communication skills and relevant pharmacy or workforce expertise. Participants were divided into 9 subgroups, based on their background or areas of expertise, to develop and refine recommendation statements. Key action areas from the summit included marketing pharmacy, workplace excellence and professional well-being, reducing financial barriers to entry in pharmacy, removing regulatory barriers, equitable reimbursement for pharmacy practice, pharmacy technician advancement, robust development pathways, data-driven workforce initiatives, and technology-enabled practice.

Conclusion

The summit successfully identified critical areas for improvement and developed 12 recommendation statements within 9 action areas. PSW will continue to play a vital role in implementing these recommendations and collaborating with key stakeholders over the next 5 years to ensure the long-term viability of the pharmacy workforce in Wisconsin.

Key Points.

• Coordinated efforts across diverse stakeholders, including professional organizations, schools of pharmacy, and regulatory bodies, can lead to actionable strategies addressing critical workforce issues.

• Through robust discussions and consensus building, the summit produced 12 well-defined recommendations across 9 key action areas, providing a blueprint for long-term workforce stability.

• The Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission provides a compelling model for other state pharmacy associations to replicate in order to develop state-specific workforce strategies based on state-specific stakeholders, resources, and concerns.

Healthcare workforce challenges have been recognized as a top concern for achieving healthcare outcomes by healthcare executives, government officials, and national organizations across the country.^1-3 In addition to workforce shortages, the healthcare workforce has been further challenged by unrest following the COVID-19 pandemic, diminished worker well-being, and fast-paced practice evolution including remote, multisite, and multichannel work environments. Workforce remains a key area of focus within the pharmacy profession post pandemic. The 2025 ASHP Pharmacy Forecast report describes emerging trends that will influence healthcare and pharmacy in the next 5 years, which included “Opportunity, Risk, and Stabilizing the Pharmacy Workforce” as one of the 6 key themes.⁴

Pharmacy workforce trends indicate shortages of both technicians and pharmacists will become worsened by a further decline in the educational pipeline, sustained or increased employee turnover, and departures from pharmacy practice, all while demand for healthcare continues to grow.^5,6 High school graduates pursuing collegiate training have steadily declined since 2010, down 11.61% nationally and 17.71% in Wisconsin.⁷ Across the United States, doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program application rates have decreased by 36.27%,⁸ PharmD degrees conferred have decreased by 8.66%, and attrition rates steadily increased from 11.1% to 15.3% from 2013 to 2023.⁹ PharmD degree program applications across all 3 schools of pharmacy in Wisconsin decreased from 970 in 2016 to 574 in 2022.⁹ In Wisconsin, pharmacy technician training programs across the state are closing due to lack of applicants.¹⁰ National trends and Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) survey data demonstrate an increased number of pharmacy technicians seeking professions outside of pharmacy. Meanwhile, the demand for pharmacy technicians is steadily increasing, with employment projected to grow 6% from 2022 to 2023 based on demand and growth in advanced pharmacist services.¹¹ Data from the 2022 National Pharmacist Workforce Study show a growing number of pharmacists “working not as a pharmacist,” and 12% to 17% of pharmacists are likely or very likely to stop practicing pharmacy in the next 3 years to pursue different careers or retire.^12,13 Furthermore, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) “2024 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report” described a growing aging population in Wisconsin that will contribute to higher demand for healthcare services in the years to come.¹⁴

While important pharmacy workforce efforts and initiatives are underway at the national level, such as the “Implementing Solutions: Building a Sustainable, Healthy, Pharmacy Workforce and Workplace” report by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP),¹⁵ there remains a need to develop state-specific approaches that address unique state needs, resources, and practice environments. Many in Wisconsin embrace the “grow your own” approach, which reflects the need to establish and strengthen pathways for training healthcare professionals within the state, thereby contributing to a higher likelihood of those individuals establishing and sustaining health careers locally. CheckUP Australia and Queensland Health’s Workforce Strategy Branch have formalized the “Grow Your Own” (GYO) approach, described as “a place-based workforce model that focuses on attracting, developing, supporting and retaining local residents, at any level and in any discipline, in an effort to create a sustainable pipeline of workers.”¹⁶

Addressing healthcare and pharmacy workforce shortages requires both short-term approaches and long-term strategies that address root causes.^17,18 Recent pharmacy workforce initiatives have primarily focused on short-term approaches to address pharmacy workforce issues within specific pharmacy environments, employers, or entities. Oftentimes, the approaches of a pharmacy employer or entity focus on the immediately preceding step in the pipeline.

To address declining enrollments, colleges and schools of pharmacy have focused on recruitment of undergraduate and high school students through increased marketing and social media campaigns, career fairs, prepharmacy clubs or programs, assured admissions programs, waiving or eliminating the Pharmacy College Admission Test entrance exam, tuition discounts, and increased scholarship support.^19-23

Employers turn to colleges and schools of pharmacy for recruitment of students for technician and, eventually, resident or pharmacist roles through expanding introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) and advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotation offerings, internship programs, mentorship programs, research opportunities, and longitudinal APPE programs. Additional short-term workforce strategies among pharmacy employers have included relocation pay, market adjustment pay raises, reimbursement or pay bonuses for board certification,²⁴ recognition and reward programs,^25,26 temporary staffing agencies,²⁷ developing staffing float pools, flexible and alternative scheduling,^28,29 remote and hybrid work opportunities,³⁰ workflow and technology optimization, employee well-being initiatives,³¹ implementing residency and technician training programs,^32-34 career ladders and advancement programs,^26,34-37 and succession planning.^38,39

These short-term strategies often provide quick wins in addressing workforce concerns for the individual pharmacy employer or entity. However, building and maintaining a sustainable pharmacy workforce pipeline requires longer-term strategies, a larger scope of influence and actions, and partnerships and collaboration within the pharmacy profession and beyond. The WHA 2024 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report highlights the need to develop and sustain the healthcare workforce in Wisconsin.¹⁴ WHA’s Three Ps framework, focused on aligning practice, policy, and payment, highlights the importance of healthcare organizations, educational institutions, policymakers, and community leaders working together to develop recommendations, determine priorities, and translate recommendations into action.¹⁴

Summit background and impetus

The Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) was established January 1, 1998, and brought together what was previously the Wisconsin Pharmacists Association (WPhA) and Wisconsin Society of Hospital Pharmacists (WSHP) to create a single organization with a unified voice for all pharmacy professionals in Wisconsin.⁴⁰ PSW serves as the ASHP and APhA state affiliate.

The Wisconsin Pharmacy Foundation (WPF) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that supports pharmacy education and research programs and works in coordination with PSW to accelerate development of leaders and the workforce to advance pharmacy practice.⁴¹

Continuous efforts over the last decade to build the pharmacy workforce at the local, state, and national levels have positively contributed to a flourishing pharmacy practice in Wisconsin. The pharmacy workforce in Wisconsin has demonstrated its desire and ability to push boundaries and advance practice, as illustrated by Wisconsin’s successful adoption of programs including “delegate-check-delegate” (ie, tech-check-tech), pharmacist provider status, and the Wisconsin Pharmacy Quality Collaborative (WPQC), a network of accredited pharmacies committed to higher standards for medication management, safety, and patient education.^42-44 The state of Wisconsin has also worked diligently to strengthen the pharmacy workforce through various programs, initiatives, and legislative efforts, including establishing technician registration, establishing technician apprenticeship programs, grant funding to support the development of technician training programs, expanding pharmacy residency training programs, and expanding adoption of career advancement pathways for both pharmacists and technicians. Despite these past successes and concerted workforce efforts, in 2023 the PSW Board of Directors, PSW members, and key stakeholders identified pharmacy workforce as a top concern and area of focus for 2024. Inspired by the collaborative pharmacy workforce and workplace report by APhA, ASHP, and NABP and the WHA 2024 Health Care Workforce Report framework and recommendations, the decision was made to convene a pharmacy workforce summit.

Summit purpose and objectives

The goal for the PSW 2024 Workforce Summit was to develop a comprehensive strategic roadmap and near-term tactics to address current and future needs of the pharmacy workforce in Wisconsin by considering multiple stakeholder perspectives, including pharmacists; pharmacy technicians, residents, and students; employers; the Pharmacy Examining Board (PEB); schools of pharmacy; PSW; other healthcare professional organizations; the state legislature; and other stakeholders. The strategic objectives were to (1) provide thought leadership and (2) create member engagement. This was accomplished by placing PSW at the center of thought leadership and tangible long-term solutions for the Wisconsin pharmacy workforce crisis while also leveraging workforce data expertise to inform decisions and identify key areas for growth in the pharmacy sector. To create member engagement, PSW utilized an inclusive approach that leveraged an exclusive feel, ultimately creating excitement about being selected as a thought leader to address a critical concern for patient care in Wisconsin. The timeline for this initiative (Figure 1) included planning and hosting the summit in 2024 and releasing final recommendation statements in early 2025, with corresponding tactics and new PSW initiatives to follow in 2025 and beyond.

Figure 1.

Timeline for the inception, planning, and implementation of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) Pharmacy Workforce Summit and the development of workforce recommendation statements spanning from October 2023 to December 2024. Published with permission of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin.

Summit Planning Committee

In January 2024, PSW assembled a special committee, the Workforce Summit Planning Committee (later renamed the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission) to plan a pharmacy workforce summit sponsored by WPF and named two cochairs to lead the efforts. Members of the committee were selected by the cochairs to represent a variety of pharmacy practice settings and geographic areas (rural, urban, and major markets), and took into consideration prior service and commitment to PSW. Committee cochairs also enlisted several influential pharmacy leaders affiliated with Wisconsin and PSW to serve as summit advisors based on their wealth of knowledge and experience in pharmacy leadership, workforce, strategy, and associations. See the Acknowledgements section for a list of committee members, committee cochairs, and summit advisors.

The committee began meeting monthly beginning in February 2024. The committee met a total of 7 times leading up to the summit. They conducted a stakeholder analysis, developed the summit participant recruitment process, assisted with identifying and recruiting summit participants, developed the agenda for the summit, reviewed participant education and preparation materials, and facilitated pre-meetings with their assigned subgroup of participants.

Summit participant recruitment and selection

In March 2024, PSW began recruiting summit participants using an electronic interest form, with a goal of recruiting up to 60 participants with relevant expertise who would be effective communicators and contributors during the summit. The target of 60 participants was based on previously successful state-level workgroups and the physical space available for the summit. Relevant expertise was predefined as individuals who had skills directly aligned with summit themes and demonstrated a deep understanding of relevant workforce topics. Effective communicators and contributors were also predefined as individuals who have a history of successful collaboration, contribute meaningfully to discussions, and bring diverse perspectives, enriching the summit experience for all. Key stakeholder perspectives to inform the summit were defined by PSW Workforce Committee cochairs based on workforce literature, national workforce summits conducted by other professions, and committee input. Interested participants utilized SmarterSelect, a web-based application management system (SmarterSelect, Dallas, TX), to submit their interest. An open-ended question asked those interested to explain why they want to participate in the summit, how they would positively contribute to the event, and to include their relevant qualifications, perspectives, experiences, knowledge, skills, or achievements. Another item asked those interested to select up to 3 stakeholder perspectives or interest areas related to workforce development they would be willing to explore during the summit, which included:

• Guidance counselors

• Human resources and recruitment

• K-12 educators

• Nonprovider employers (eg, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy benefits managers, research organizations)

• Pharmacy Examining Board and legislative engagement

• Pharmacy employers (eg, chain, community pharmacy, hospital and health system)

• Residents and residency program directors

• Rural healthcare and rural workforce

• Schools of pharmacy and healthcare academia

• State workforce development

• Pharmacy learners (eg, prepharmacy students, pharmacy students, residents)

• Talent development

• Technicians (eg, technical colleges, PTCB, The Pharmacy Technician Society)

• Other

The SmarterSelect interest form was distributed to PSW board and committee members with instructions to share the interest form broadly with their colleagues, including those in pharmacy and those in other sectors. The interest form was also shared with all PSW members through the weekly newsletter and announced at the PSW Educational Conference in April 2024. In alignment with the 2024 WHA report’s focus on collaboration within the state, PSW Workforce Committee members also strategically contacted individuals and invited them to consider submitting their interest based on their specific role or perspective. Some examples include individuals from local technical colleges, schools of pharmacy, state professional and health organizations (eg, Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Medical Society, Wisconsin Rural Health Cooperative), and state governmental agencies (eg, Department of Safety and Professional Services, Department of Public Instruction, Pharmacy Examining Board). There was no limit on the number of interest forms to be collected by SmarterSelect.

The SmarterSelect system collected information from a total of 60 individuals and provided deidentified reports for Workforce Committee cochairs to review and select summit participants. Reviewers considered the alignment of responses to the overall goals of the summit and qualifications contributed by interested participants. Ultimately, 54 of the 60 interested individuals were invited to participate in the summit. Only 6 applicants were declined, 1 for lack of completion and 5 for limited depth of knowledge and experience or misalignment with summit purpose based on their response to the open-ended prompt.

Upon review of the submitted interest forms, it was noted there was only one submission from a current pharmacy learner (student/resident). The planning committee decided to create a “scribe” role for each subgroup that could be filled by a prepharmacy student, current pharmacy student, or pharmacy resident. Committee members provided the names of pharmacy learners for consideration. Invitations to learners were sent via email, and all invited learners accepted. Scribes were invited to all subgroup summit preparation meetings and the summit. Scribes were allowed to participate in conversations in addition to taking notes.

Summit preparation

Participants were notified of their selection for the summit via email on May 21, 2024, approximately 2 months prior to the schedule summit. Given the summit would take place in August, near the end of summer and the start of the academic schedule, the committee wanted to provide ample notice to participants to enable their scheduling and travel accommodations for the summit. The committee also wanted to allow enough time for participant orientation and multiple preparation meetings to occur prior to the summit in August, again acknowledging potential difficulty in scheduling meetings during summer months that are notoriously busy for pharmacy stakeholders due to personal vacations, holidays (Memorial Day and July 4), pharmacy conferences (eg, ASHP Pharmacy Futures, American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Meeting), residency program graduations, and new pharmacy resident onboarding and orientation.

Upon selection, participants were divided into 9 subgroups based on their background or areas of focus and influence. Each subgroup was assigned a member of the committee to serve as leader and facilitator, as well as a learner to serve as the scribe taking notes during summit preparation meetings and during the summit. The 9 subgroups included the following perspectives:

1. Guidance counselors and K-12 educators

2. Human resources recruitment and talent development

3. Nonprovider employers (pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy benefits managers, research organizations)

4. Pharmacy Examining Board, legislature, and state workforce

5. Provider employers (chain, community, hospital and health system)

6. Pharmacy residencies and residency program directors

7. Rural healthcare and workforce

8. Schools of pharmacy, healthcare academia, and students

9. Pharmacy technicians

A presentation slide deck was developed to provide all participants with background on the pharmacy workforce, a summary of current issues and concerns, and relevant data and references to help prepare participants for the summit. Committee members scheduled 2 preparatory meetings with their subgroup participants to orient them to the summit and develop initial recommendation statements. The statements did not need to be specific to their subgroup perspective, could pertain to any or all pharmacy practice settings (community, hospital, ambulatory care, and other), and could address any pharmacy workforce concern.

Subgroups were given WHA’s 2024 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report as a framework for developing their initial statements (Figure 2), which included 4 pillars for consideration: (1) pathways for new entrants, (2) removing legal, regulatory, and pay obstacles, (3) practice, policy, and payment reform, and (4) technology-enabled practice.¹⁴

Figure 2.

Recommendation framework provided to summit participants. Pharmacy Workforce Summit participants were provided a framework to aid their development of pharmacy workforce recommendation statements. The recommendation framework was modeled after the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) 2024 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report, which included 4 pillars for consideration: (1) pathways for new entrants, (2) removing legal, regulatory, and pay obstacles, (3) practice, policy, and payment reform, and (4) technology-enabled practice. Adapted from reference 11.

The nine subgroups collectively submitted a total of 86 recommendation statements. Initial recommendation statements were reviewed by committee cochairs and summit advisors. Advisors provided initial feedback for consideration related to the statements and ways to potentially consolidate statements. Advisors also provided 5 additional recommendation statements for consideration. The committee cochairs consolidated statements provided by the workgroups with similar action areas and wording, highlighting one recommendation as prototypical. Through this process, several statements were reallocated to other subgroups. Going into the summit, there were a total of 58 recommendation statements, many with substatements from other groups to be further reviewed, discussed, and refined by subgroups during the summit.

A total of 79 individuals were involved in developing the initial recommendation statements, including 63 volunteer participants, 12 committee members, and 4 summit advisors (Table 1). The gender composition consisted of 42 women (53.2%) and 37 men (46.8%). The 79 individuals included 57 pharmacists, 12 nonpharmacists, 9 pharmacy learners (4 pharmacy residents and 5 pharmacy students), and 1 pharmacy technician. Nonpharmacists included several individuals involved in human resources and recruitment (eg, manager of youth apprenticeships, assistant director of recruitment, director of admissions), as well as individuals from various Wisconsin associations, foundations, and governmental agencies (eg, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction). The 57 pharmacists were affiliated with a variety of different practice settings, including 31 hospital/health-system (54.4%), 11 community (19.3%), 7 industry (12.3%), 5 academia (8.8%), and 3 association/foundation (5.3%) representatives. The hospital/health-system setting included a mixture of individuals from small, medium, and large hospitals, as well as academic medical centers and Veterans Affairs facilities, with representation from the majority of health systems from across the state (eg, Advocate, Ascension, Aspirus, Emplify, Froedtert, Mayo Clinic, SSM Health, UW Health). The hospital/health-system setting consisted of pharmacy administrators (vice presidents, chief pharmacy officers, directors, managers, and coordinators), pharmacists, residents, an informaticist, and a technician. The community setting included individuals from independent pharmacies, small chains (eg, Trig’s, Hayat), and large chains (eg, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger). The community setting consisted of owners, district managers/supervisors, directors of pharmacy, pharmacy practice coordinators, and pharmacists. The academia setting included individuals from all 3 schools of pharmacy located in Wisconsin (Concordia University Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin–Madison), as well as a technical college providing pharmacy technician training programs (Milwaukee Area Technical College). The academia setting consisted of deans, assistant/associate deans, program directors, faculty, and students.

Table 1.

Demographic and Practice Characteristics of Summit Committee Members, Advisors, and Volunteer Participants

	Committee members (n = 12)	Summit advisors (n = 4)	Volunteer participants (n = 63)	Total, No. (%)
Gender
Female/women	6	1	35	42 (53.2)
Male/men	6	3	28	37 (46.8)
Pharmacy affiliation
Nonpharmacist	1	0	12	12 (15.2)
Pharmacist	11	4	42	57 (72.2)
Pharmacy resident	0	0	4	4 (5.1)
Pharmacy student	0	0	5	5 (6.3)
Pharmacy technician	0	0	1	1 (1.3)
Work/practice setting
All individuals (n = 79)
Academia	3	0	10	13 (16.5)
Association/foundation/government	1	2	7	10 (12.7)
Community	1	0	10	11 (13.9)
Hospital/health system	6	1	31	38 (48.1)
Industry	1	1	5	7 (8.9)
Nonpharmacist (n = 12)
Academia	1	0	2	3 (25.0)
Association/foundation/government	0	0	7	7 (58.3)
Hospital/health-system	0	0	2	2 (16.7)
Pharmacist (n = 57)
Academia	2	0	3	5 (8.8)
Association/foundation/government	1	2	0	3 (5.3)
Community	1	0	10	11 (19.3)
Hospital/health system	6	1	24	31 (54.4)
Industry	1	1	5	7 (12.3)
Pharmacy resident (n = 4)
Hospital/health-system	0	0	4	4 (100)
Pharmacy student (n = 5)
Academia	0	0	5	5 (100)
Pharmacy technician (n = 1)
Hospital/health system	0	0	1	1 (100)

Pharmacy Workforce Summit

The PSW 2024 Workforce Summit was held on Thursday, August 22. The summit was strategically scheduled immediately preceding the PSW Annual Meeting in the Wisconsin Dells, which allowed many of the committee members and summit participants to conveniently arrive early for the summit and stay for the conference that followed. A total of 72 people were in attendance at the summit, including 57 of the 63 volunteer participants, 11 of the 12 committee members, and all 4 summit advisors.

Introductory and didactic content during the summit was intentionally minimized to focus on collaboration and decision-making during this in-person session. David Zilz, a notable Wisconsin pharmacy thought leader and ASHP past president, provided brief introductory comments (15 minutes) focused on how collective wisdom and effort can lead to transformative change, citing the importance of other impactful summits, such as the 1985 Hilton Head Conference.^45,46 Next, a brief facilitated discussion (30 minutes) between committee cochair Dave Hager and Lee Vermeulen, executive vice president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, helped brief summit participants on the national landscape of workforce development activities and set a tone for urgency to take action. Lastly, participant ground rules were established, including engaging in aspirational discussions and avoiding negative dialogue.

Following the summit introductory elements, subgroups entered an initial breakout session (30 minutes) where they collaboratively reviewed assigned recommendation statements and substatements. The assigned task was to refine and, in some cases, consolidate similar statements to develop clearer, actionable recommendations. One representative from each subgroup then presented the resulting statements to the larger group in a report out session (90 minutes), allowing 8 minutes per presentation and up to 5 minutes for feedback and discussion.

Over lunch, the planning committee briefly convened to summarize key themes and action areas that had emerged from the subgroups’ discussions and the initial large group report outs. There were 15 key themes that emerged:

1. Centralized marketing resources and Wisconsin-specific marketing

2. Statewide apprenticeship for technicians and pharmacists

3. Workforce data and burnout dashboards

4. Practice advancement

5. Resources for telehealth

6. Reskilling of current pharmacist roles

7. International workforce considerations

8. Housing and childcare support advocacy

9. Unified job descriptions

10. Negative patient interactions and board of pharmacy

11. Financial support for new graduates and technicians

12. Licensure accessibility/mobility/barriers to obtain

13. Value-based payer collaboration

14. Technician leadership programs

15. Technician roles and regulatory definitions

During a second breakout session (60 minutes), subgroups incorporated feedback from the first report out session with instructions to further refine their recommendation statements in alignment with the 15 action areas that had emerged in the morning. Additionally, subgroups were tasked with proposing initial tactics, timelines, potential owners, and key collaborators for each statement. This portion of the summit concluded with a final report out session (75 minutes) where one representative from each subgroup presented updated recommendation statements and supporting information (eg, tactics, timelines, owners, and collaborators) the larger group.

The summit wrap-up (15 minutes) closed with a description of next steps, including a plan for finalizing the recommendation statements, reviewing the draft statements with the PSW board of directors, and identifying owners and collaborators to drive action. Attendees were invited to take pride in their role in this pivotal moment for Wisconsin pharmacy and sustain the energy and urgency from the day. Closing reflections from participants and committee members emphasized the potential for the summit to inspire progress in Wisconsin and beyond.

Summit follow-up

The PSW Workforce Summit Planning Committee, now renamed the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission, committed to continue leading this effort beyond the summit. Commission cochairs consolidated subgroup outputs from the summit into 12 recommendation statements across 9 action areas:

1. Marketing pharmacy

2. Workplace Excellence and professional well-being

3. Reducing financial barriers to entry into pharmacy

4. Removing regulatory barriers

5. Equitable reimbursement for pharmacy practice

6. Pharmacy technician advancement

7. Robust development pathways

8. Data-driven workforce initiatives

9. Technology-enabled practice

In order to aspirationally convey the action areas and clarify their intended outcomes, cochairs developed vision statements for each action area. Vision statements and consolidated recommendations were reviewed by the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission. Following review and initial revisions by the commission, vision and recommendation statements were presented to the PSW and WPF boards to identify actionable steps for year 1 while ensuring alignment with PSW’s strategic plan.

Additional input was requested from summit participants, advisors, and committee members via an electronic survey via SurveyMonkey (SurveyMonkey, San Mateo, CA). Respondents were invited via email to provide open-ended comments on the proposed vision statements, recommendation statements, and potential tactics. Additionally, respondents were asked to provide their level of agreement with each recommendation statement as written. Respondents could indicate they accept the statement as written, recommend modification, or request discussion. If the respondent recommended modification or discussion, an open-ended follow-up question invited the respondent to indicate what modification or discussion was needed. To close the survey, respondents were asked whether or not they were interested in a virtual open forum about the pharmacy workforce summit recommendations and if they had potential collaborators for this effort. Consensus for vision and recommendation statements was prospectively set at 80%, whereby the statement was accepted as a point of consensus if at least 80% of surveyed participants indicated agreement.^47-49

The email invitation to complete the survey was sent to 78 individuals. Forty-eight responses were received, yielding a 62% response rate demonstrating high engagement. Ten of the 12 recommendation statements (83%) received 80% agreement to accept the statement as written. Open-ended responses offered additional items for consideration and expressed readiness to move into action. Given the high level of agreement, the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission divided each recommendation category across members to review each piece of feedback and propose final edits.

Thirty-one respondents indicated interest in attending a virtual forum. To sustain momentum, 3 one-hour open forums were available to summit participants and PSW members in November 2024. The forums provided a venue to discuss summit outcomes, provide updates, highlight areas of urgency and enthusiasm, and outline methods to engage in implementing recommendations and tactics. A total of 40 people participated in the virtual open forums and confirmed widespread agreement on the recommendations and underscored the necessity to socialize the resulting recommendations. The final Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Recommendations (Figure 3) were published on the PSW website and distributed via social media on January 10, 2025.⁵⁰

Figure 3.

Final pharmacy workforce recommendation statements resulting from the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Summit.

It has been determined that PSW will continue to be a vital steward of the output of the PSW 2024 Workforce Summit. In addition to directly impacting items as recommended by the PSW and WPF Boards, the state association will have a critical role in inviting, engaging, and collaborating with other key stakeholders in these efforts over the next 5 years.

Limitations

Several limitations should be considered for future workforce summits. First, potential bias in the recruitment methods and the resulting participant sample may have led to an incomplete representation of perspectives from across the state, particularly in terms of geographic, work setting, and demographic diversity. Although intentional efforts were made to include participants from varied practice settings and backgrounds, the final sample may not fully reflect the broader population. Second, the scheduling of preparatory meetings during the summer months posed challenges, as participants faced competing personal and professional commitments. While no timing will accommodate all individuals, future summits should consider seasonal and organizational calendars to maximize engagement. Third, the summit structure emphasized narrowing and prioritizing recommendations, which, while valuable for strategic focus, may have reduced some participants’ sense of momentum and engagement. Several attendees indicated they would have preferred to leave the summit with a broader, more aspirational set of recommendations, with refinement occurring in subsequent phases. Finally, contextual factors specific to Wisconsin—such as the structure of professional associations, patterns of member engagement, and preexisting relationships with key stakeholders—may limit the generalizability of this model to other states.

Conclusion

The PSW 2024 Workforce Summit began as an aspirational initiative to promote member engagement and provide thought leadership to grow and sustain Wisconsin’s pharmacy workforce. Despite years of short-term organization- and employer-level initiatives, a shift toward addressing root causes and developing larger scale, long-term strategies was necessary. Over the course of 2024, the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission identified key issues, engaged diverse stakeholders, and formalized 12 actionable recommendations to drive sustainable change. PSW will continue to play a vital role in implementing these recommendations and collaborating with key stakeholders over the next 5 years to ensure the long-term viability of the pharmacy workforce in Wisconsin. State-level collaboration and action are vital to addressing unique local workforce challenges while complementing national efforts.

By demonstrating how a state pharmacy association can mobilize resources, collaborate across sectors, and sustain momentum, the Wisconsin Pharmacy Workforce Commission offers a compelling model for other states to replicate. State pharmacy associations might consider adopting this framework to develop state-specific strategies while also continuing to leverage the resources and important work being done at the national level. Successful execution of the PSW 2024 Workforce Summit was enabled by the unified state association structure, dedicated association staff, robust membership, outstanding member engagement and leadership, and longstanding relationships with other stakeholders in Wisconsin. However, these ingredients for success may not be present in other states.

With continued commitment from key stakeholders and a focus on long-term thinking, states have the opportunity to build a resilient and sustainable pharmacy workforce of the future.

Data availability

The data underlying this article cannot be shared publicly due to privacy restrictions, as the data contains personally identifiable information of the individuals and residency programs that participated in the study.

Disclosures

The authors have declared no potential conflicts of interest.