By Sarah R. Haines, MSW, MBA
Vice President, PACE Market Lead, AnewHealth
PACE organizations have always operated in one of healthcare’s most complex environments. Today, that complexity continues to grow.
PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, is a Medicare and Medicaid program that provides complete medical and social services to older adults who qualify for nursing home level of care but continue living in the community. As of July 2026, 204 PACE programs operate across 33 states and the District of Columbia, according to the National PACE Association.
Executive Directors are balancing staffing shortages, increasing participant acuity, evolving regulatory expectations, and the financial realities of operating under a fully at-risk model. Medical Directors are managing increasingly complex medication regimens while working to improve outcomes and reduce avoidable hospitalizations. Sponsoring organizations are looking for partners who can help new and existing programs thrive, not simply meet today’s demands but prepare for tomorrow’s challenges.
In this environment, pharmacy has become much more than a vendor relationship.
The right pharmacy partner can improve medication safety, strengthen operational performance, reduce administrative burden, and help support better participant outcomes. The wrong partner can create additional work for already stretched care teams and introduce unnecessary clinical and operational risk.
As PACE continues to evolve, organizations should ask an important question: is our pharmacy simply dispensing medications, or is it helping us achieve our mission?
Three qualities separate a pharmacy vendor from a pharmacy partner: trust, reliability, and expertise. This article looks at what each one means in practice and offers five questions PACE leaders can use to evaluate a current pharmacy relationship.
At AnewHealth, we believe pharmacy should be one of the strongest strategic partners a PACE organization has, not simply a vendor that dispenses medications. For more than 15 years, CareKinesis has partnered exclusively with PACE organizations, helping them improve medication safety, reduce operational burden, and support better participant outcomes. That belief has shaped our approach from the beginning, and it reflects what we see across the industry today: the expectations of pharmacy have fundamentally changed.
Why Pharmacy Expectations Have Changed in PACE
For many years, pharmacy services were evaluated primarily on operational measures. Were medications delivered on time? Were prescriptions filled accurately? Were issues resolved when they occurred?
Those expectations remain essential, but they are no longer enough.
PACE participants often live with multiple chronic conditions, take numerous medications, and require close coordination across an interdisciplinary team (IDT). Every medication change has the potential to affect participant safety, quality outcomes, and the overall cost of care.
Today’s pharmacy partner must contribute clinically, operationally, and strategically. That means identifying medication-related risks before they become problems, supporting evidence-based prescribing, helping programs manage Part D performance, and reducing the amount of time nurses and interdisciplinary team members spend coordinating pharmacy issues.
In other words, pharmacy should help organizations work smarter, not harder.
Trust: Partnership Over Transaction
PACE is built on relationships. Participants trust their care teams. Care teams trust one another. That same level of trust should extend to the organizations that support participant care.
A pharmacy partner should function as an extension of the IDT rather than an outside vendor. That means understanding each organization’s goals, communicating proactively, and remaining accountable for both clinical and operational performance.
Trust is built over time through consistency, transparency, and a willingness to solve problems together. Organizations benefit most when they work with a pharmacy that understands the unique realities of the PACE model, not one adapting services originally designed for another care setting.
The result is a partnership focused on achieving shared outcomes instead of simply completing transactions.
Reliability: More Than On-Time Delivery
Reliability certainly includes accurate dispensing and dependable delivery, but for PACE organizations it extends much further.
Reliable pharmacy support means clinical recommendations arrive when they are needed. Medication changes are communicated quickly. Questions are answered by knowledgeable professionals who understand the urgency of participant care.
When a participant needs a new medication the same day, a reliable pharmacy ensures that participant gets the medication they need. If the provider has a question about adding the medication to the participant’s regimen, a clinical pharmacist is available for support 24/7.
Expertise: Clinical Depth in the PACE Model
Pharmacists who work exclusively with PACE organizations develop a specific kind of clinical judgment. They understand how to evaluate medication regimens in an older adult population, support guideline-based therapy, and recognize potential medication-related risks before they contribute to adverse events.
For PACE organizations, these interventions have the potential to improve participant outcomes while also supporting financial stewardship within a fully at-risk model.
Equally important, pharmacy expertise should complement the work already being performed by physicians, nurses, and other members of the interdisciplinary team. The strongest partnerships are collaborative, bringing additional insight that helps the entire care team make informed decisions.
Five Questions to Ask When Evaluating a PACE Pharmacy
The most successful PACE organizations recognize that pharmacy touches nearly every aspect of participant care. Medication management influences quality outcomes, participant experience, operational efficiency, regulatory readiness, and financial performance.
Because of this, selecting a pharmacy partner should involve more than evaluating pricing or dispensing capabilities. Five questions are worth asking:
- Does this pharmacy understand the specific operational and regulatory demands of the PACE model?
- Will they proactively identify opportunities to improve medication safety, rather than waiting to be asked?
- Can they measurably reduce the coordination burden on our interdisciplinary team?
- Will they support our organization with data, reporting, and insights that improve decisions?
- Are they equipped to help us prepare for regulatory oversight and long-term growth?
The answers to these questions often reveal the difference between a supplier and a strategic partner.
Choosing a Partner for What PACE Is Becoming
The demands placed on PACE organizations will continue to evolve. Participant needs will become more complex. Regulatory expectations will continue to grow. Financial performance will remain closely tied to delivering safe, coordinated, high-quality care.
Meeting those challenges requires trusted partners who understand the mission of PACE.
Pharmacy is no longer simply a support service operating behind the scenes. It has become an integral contributor to participant safety, clinical quality, operational efficiency, and organizational success.
For leaders evaluating their current pharmacy relationship, now is an ideal time to ask whether that partnership is helping the organization move forward or simply maintaining the status quo.
At CareKinesis PACE Pharmacy, we believe the right pharmacy partner brings far more than medications. It brings trusted relationships, dependable support, clinical expertise, and a shared commitment to helping PACE organizations deliver exceptional care.
In a healthcare environment where every interaction matters, trust, reliability, and expertise are what transform pharmacy from a vendor into a true partner. Organizations that choose partners aligned with those values will be better positioned to support their care teams, protect their participants, and achieve sustainable success.
Learn more about our PACE pharmacy services or email our team at info@anewhealthrx.com .
