February 3, 2026- Vizient® released its Winter 2026 Spend Management Outlook, projecting a 2.78% overall increase in healthcare supply chain prices between July 2026 and June 2027. The report finds that, for the first time in more than a decade, pharmacy is no longer the fastest-growing non-labor expense: IT and facilities-related costs now lead projected inflation, signaling a shift in how hospitals must approach budget planning.
Beyond aggregate inflation, the report highlights several emerging cost drivers reshaping utilization, capital planning and care delivery, including the expansion of theranostics and the downstream effects of GLP-1 weight loss medications on surgical volumes.
“This is not a uniform inflation environment,” said Carina Dolan, associate vice president, clinical oncology, pharmacoeconomics and market insights, Vizient. “Some cost pressures are moderating, while others are accelerating or shifting location. The challenge for health system leaders is managing that divergence and reallocating resources accordingly.”
Pharmacy growth moderates
Pharmacy price growth is projected at 2.84%, down from 3.35% just six months ago. The moderation reflects increased biosimilar adoption and initial impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Based on Vizient purchasing data, this reduction represents substantial avoided growth in drug spend across participating health systems over a single year.
IT, facilities management and food accelerate
As pharmacy growth moderates, indirect spend categories and purchased services have emerged as the fastest-rising non-labor cost category. IT hardware and software show the steepest projected increase at 5.66%, with continued inflation across IT services (4.5%), facilities management (4.13%), construction (3.7%), food (3.63%) and medical gases (5%). These categories are increasingly central to digital transformation, cybersecurity, infrastructure resilience and regulatory compliance, limiting organizations’ ability to defer or downsize.
Continue Reading press release here.
The Winter 2026 Spend Management Outlook is produced for Vizient clients and is designed to support executive decision-making across finance, supply chain, pharmacy and operations.