Key takeaways from Vizient’s 2025 Spend Management Outlook

Read this article on our website at https://getvpl.com/key-takeaways-from-vizients-2025-spend-management-outlook/

Introduction

In January, Vizient released its Spend Management Outlook for 2025. The comprehensive report forecasts pricing trends of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and supplies, capital equipment, and healthcare services between July 1st, 2025, and June 30th, 2026.?

The Spend Management Outlook also offers insights into emerging trends and pricing dynamics across healthcare environments, helping healthcare leaders strategize their expense management with an integrated approach.

This article offers key takeaways from Vizient’s 2025 Spend Management Outlook for healthcare supply chain and pharmacy leaders.

Pricing trends for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals

The Spend Management Outlook estimates healthcare inflation rates for the upcoming year using member purchasing data and public sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report also highlights various political, economic, environmental, and other factors influencing pricing trends.?

This year’s report forecasts a 2.3% combined inflation rate for medical and surgical products (2.4% for medical supplies and 1.9% for surgical supplies). Likewise, pharmacy spending is expected to increase by 3.84% through June 2026.

The anticipated rate of healthcare supply chain inflation is steady but slightly lower than Vizient’s predictions from the past two years. Previously, Vizient forecasted a 2.9% inflation rate for 2024 and a 2.4% inflation rate through June 2025.

Drivers of medical supplies inflation

Medical and surgical supplies account for as much as 13% of total hospital spend on average. The steady rise of inflation has stretched this budget in recent years and placed additional strain on healthcare supply chains.

Tariffs on medical supplies

The report identifies one key source of recent inflation in the medical supply chain: tariffs on imports from China. In addition to a 4% tariff on medical supplies from the Biden administration in 2024, the Trump administration finalized an additional 10% tariff on imports from China just weeks ago.

Tariffs affect the cost of critical health supplies sourced from China including gloves, needles, syringes, and face masks. One product particularly vulnerable to the effects of tariffs is enteral syringes. To minimize this impact, Vizient secured a delay on the effective date of tariffs on enteral syringes until 2026, allowing manufacturers time to diversify production outside of China.

Drivers of pharmaceutical inflation

Specialty medications

Specialty medications are a significant driver of increased pharmaceutical spending. According to the 2025 Spend Management Outlook, prices for specialty and complex medications are predicted to increase by 4.44% in the next year. Humira?, STELARA?, and SKYRIZI?—all specialty medications—are projected to see the largest price increase during this timeframe of 5.30%.

The future of specialty drug spending

The influence of specialty medications on pharmaceutical spending will likely continue due to several factors. First is the increased rate of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases that require complex treatments to manage. Second is the expansion of cell and gene therapies, which can cost millions of dollars per dose.

The Spend Management Outlook underscores how specialty drug programs will require particular attention from healthcare and pharmacy leaders. Health organizations must navigate administrative, financial, staffing, and technology needs to ensure specialty program’s success.

Achieving cost savings with VPL

External pressures like inflation and rising drug costs make identifying cost-savings initiatives within the health system more critical than ever. VPL is here to help uncover these savings across your health system’s supply chain.?

We take a proactive, data-driven approach to find savings opportunities across inbound and outbound freight programs. For example, we helped our customer Bay Area Hospital achieve $112,411 in inbound freight savings vs. prepaid and add in their first year with us.?

We achieve this with our dedicated Account Management and Supplier Relations Teams, who work on behalf of our customers to monitor inbound freight and reach out to suppliers to drive more volume onto our program.?

This approach allows us to contractually guarantee savings for our customers. In doing so, we allow health systems to access cost savings for their freight programs wherever possible.?

Conclusion

Vizient’s 2025 Spend Management Outlook provides valuable insights into the pricing trends and cost drivers affecting the healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chains.

As healthcare organizations navigate these financial pressures, strategic planning and proactive supply chain management will be critical to maintaining financial stability and ensuring access to essential medical resources.

About us

We modernize clinical supply chains to support healthier patients. Our technology-driven solutions and consultative customer experience empower health systems and outpatient pharmacies to build smarter, more resilient supply chains. With over 700 hospitals and a 97% customer retention rate, we’re trusted to deliver transparency, cost savings, and peace of mind.