Roy Guharoy

Roy’s Story

Dr. Roy Guharoy is the Vice President of Clinical Integration and Chief Pharmacy Officer at the Ascension Health System, the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. He is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from University of Minnesota and M.B.A. from Peter Drucker Graduate Management School, CA.

Prior to joining Ascension health, he served as the Chief Pharmacy Officer at the University of Massachusetts Health Care system and Director of Pharmacy and Associate Chief of Section of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine at the SUNY Health Science System, New York. He has published a text book on infectious diseases, presented/published over three hundred articles on infectious disease management, evidence based medicine practice, cost-effective medication management and patient safety in peer reviewed journals, national and international meetings. He is a fellow of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and American College of Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Guharoy was the recipient of University Health Consortium medication safety best performer, SUNY Upstate Medical University outstanding faculty, SUNY Chancellor’s outstanding professional services, USP outstanding contributions to the USP standards and numerous state/national awards.

Dr. Guharoy has served as a ASHP delegate for many years and also participated in various committees. Currently, he is serving as a member of the ASHP Council on Public Policy and the Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers Advisory Group on Multi-Hospital Pharmacy Executives.

Overview of Facility/Health System

Ascension health system owns 141 acute care hospitals, 2600 clinics, 40 senior care centers located in 24 States and District of Columbia.

Significant Projects 

Dr. Guharoy is the dyad leader of the Ascension Center of Excellence for Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship with the goal to optimize rationale antimicrobial use, improve care outcomes and reduce resistance. Team works led by facility level physician-pharmacist champions have led to significant reduction of antimicrobial use and Clostridium difficile infection.

System-wide implementation of Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) best practices and quarterly action agenda items have resulted in establishing safe practices and prevention of patient harm.

System-wide evidence based practice of medicine and standardization resulted in $36.4 million savings and reduction of 5% antibiotic cost/patient day, 6.3% antifungal agents and 15.9% Clostridium difficile infection in FY 17.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

“First, be a change agent- health care systems are riddled with silos. Pharmacists are the drug experts and our leadership makes a huge difference to eliminate the silos and deliver high quality integrated care across the continuum. The key is alignment with leadership including administrators, physicians, nurses and others. The alignment fosters credibility, buy in, and support for implementation of therapeutics and quality initiatives. Second, you need to be at the table where decisions are made so your perspective on medication management is considered. Decisions made without pharmacist input often fails. Third, all health systems are challenged with escalating cost. However, cost savings is not a one way street. Cost goes down with improved quality and safety. It is not the other way around; Fourth, evaluate pharmacy practice model in your system- are the pharmacists used to the maximum of their potential? if the answer is no, you have tremendous opportunities to optimize the practice. Fifth, set a clear vision for the value that pharmacy services should have for the patients that fits into the large picture of the organization and ensure your entire staff is aligned to achieve that vision.”

Initial Involvement in ASHP

“I became involved with ASHP when I was a student and I learned more about hospital pharmacy practice. ASHP provides me the networking opportunity to learn and advance our profession."

Value of ASHP

"The value lies with the very core of our existence - our patients. ASHP supports pharmacists through resources, idea sharing, and networking which help the pharmacists to work at the top of their licensure and deliver the best care to our patients.”

"We are challenged with many issues related to the delivery of health care and networking is vital for exchange of ideas to improve organizational effectiveness. In addition, our collective voice is what it takes to make legislative changes to improve care outcomes and advance our profession.”