What You Should Know
- Healthcare performance improvement company Vizient released its Summer 2026 Spend Management Outlook, projecting an overall supply chain, capital, and purchased services price inflation rate of 3.39% for 2027.
- Indirect spend and purchased services represent the highest growth category at 4.73% projected inflation, heavily driven by investments in IT hardware and software (6.29%), IT security (8.50%), construction (4.70%), and non-medical capital equipment (4.15%).
- Total pharmaceutical prices are projected to increase by 3.54% in 2027, with inflation shifting away from acute care settings (2.85%) and concentrating in ambulatory pharmacy (3.64%), self-administered therapies (3.62%), and specialty/complex medications (4.04%).
- GLP-1 therapies continue to reshape non-acute pharmacy spend, with tirzepatide climbing to the No. 2 self-administered drug (3.47% of spend) and semaglutide remaining in the top five (2.33%), together accounting for 5.80% of self-administered pharmaceutical expenditures.
- Two disease categories account for nearly half of analyzed pharmaceutical purchases: oncology therapeutics at 25.59% of spend (4.14% projected inflation) and autoimmune/anti-inflammatory drugs at 23.39% of spend (4.10% projected inflation).
Non-Labor Inflation Dynamics and Spend Category Breakdown
To equip health system executives with data-driven budgeting benchmarks, Vizient, Inc. has published its Summer 2026 Spend Management Outlook. Analyzing client purchasing data alongside macroeconomic indices, the report projects an overall supply chain, capital, and purchased services inflation rate of 3.39% for 2027, alongside a 3.54% projected increase in overall pharmaceutical costs.
The Vizient projections illustrate a marked bifurcation between lower-inflation acute care commodities and high-growth indirect operational infrastructure:
- Escalating Indirect Spend & IT Infrastructure: Indirect spend and purchased services reflect the highest category inflation at 4.73%. This increase is anchored by IT hardware and software (6.29%), IT security (8.50%), IT hardware/accessories (8.00%), IT software/licensing (7.50%), construction (4.70%), and food services (4.16%).
- Ambulatory & Specialty Pharmacy Acceleration: Acute care pharmacy inflation remains relatively controlled at 2.85%, while ambulatory care pharmacy rises to 3.64% and specialty/complex medications reach 4.04%. Contracted pharmaceutical products (2.73% inflation) continue to deliver significant savings compared to non-contract items (3.92% inflation).
- Concentration in Metabolic, Oncology, & Autoimmune Drugs: Tirzepatide and semaglutide now combine to represent 5.80% of self-administered pharmacy spend (with tirzepatide utilization soaring 101.2% year-over-year). Oncology drugs (25.59% of spend; 4.14% inflation) and autoimmune therapeutics (23.39% of spend; 4.10% inflation) account for nearly 50% of total health system drug expenditures.
- Capital, MedSurg, and Procedural Infrastructure: Medical-surgical products are projected at 3.05% inflation, capital equipment at 3.43%, and Physician Preference Items (PPI) at 2.55%—where ambulatory surgery center (ASC) migration, surgical robotics, and advanced orthopedic/cardiovascular implants are reshaping total cost of care.
“The drivers of healthcare spending continue to evolve,” stated Carina Dolan, associate vice president, clinical oncology, pharmacoeconomics and market insights at Vizient. “As care expands beyond the hospital and organizations invest in technology and infrastructure, spending decisions are becoming increasingly interconnected.”
With IT software, hardware, and security costs expanding at rates between 6.29% and 8.50%, digital transformation tools must justify their cost by eliminating operational bottlenecks and lowering administrative labor.
Similarly, managing specialty drug spend demands cross-functional alignment between pharmacy, revenue cycle, and managed care teams to navigate complex payer coverage controls and site-of-care mandates.
