What is Pharmacy Compounding?

Pharmacy compounding is the practice of manufacturing personalized drugs for patients when they may not be capable of using a commercially available medicine, or they may require a medicine, which is currently not available or discontinued.

What exactly is a Compounding Pharmacy?

A compounding Pharmacy prepares compounded drugs, according to the prescription of medical practitioners. These drugs may be a blend of ingredients, which are included in the medicines in exact dosage and potency, according to the treatment needs of patients.

What is the aim of a Compounding Pharmacy?

The aim of an approved compounding pharmacy is to offer premium nutritional supplements and bio-identical hormone treatments for patients in the form of capsules, tablets, lotions, and creams. These pharmacies will prepare drugs by combining different active pharmaceutical-grade constituents, as recommended by any registered and qualified healthcare practitioner, into the exact dosage and strength forms, according to the individual needs of patients. Both state and federal authorities control all compounding pharmacies.

Any licensed compounding pharmacy will be committed to the preparation of compounded drugs by applying the finest compounding practice principles to serve the physicians and the patients in an efficient way. Competent and knowledgeable pharmacists, who exactly mix the therapeutically graded ingredient, according to the medical needs of a particular patient, will usually prepare all compounding medicines in these pharmacies. These medicines are prepared only against the prescription of the legitimate medical doctors and they will be distributed to the concerned patients.

Most compounding pharmacies will aim to focus on preparing medicines for the Bio-identical Hormone substitute treatment that emphasizes the significance of the graceful elderly in an active and in a healthy way. Making the best of all innate hormones with these compounding pharmacies guarantees that patients can take pleasure in their full life, living for a longer period. They also alleviate the patients’ physical and psychological disabilities, which are mostly caused due to the fast age-associated deterioration and decrease in the manufacture of hormones in the body of elderly patients.

Benefits of a Compounding Pharmacy

Some of the benefits of the services of the compounding pharmacies include:

A compounding pharmacy assists healthcare practitioners significantly in adjusting or customizing the prescription or dose more easily from time to time, according to the changing requirements of an individual patient. They can also be customized, according to the absorption skills of an individual patient.

The prescriptions of compounded medicines can be tailored according to diverse formulations, which may be easier or more efficient to manage. This includes if a patient experiences some complexity in swallowing the prescribed capsules, the pharmacist who is preparing the compounding drugs, will be capable of customizing the capsule form of the medicine as a cream, syrup, or gel form.

Another major benefit of compounding pharmacies is that manifold prescriptions can be pooled into a single dosage structure, according to the convenience of a patient to make sure the long-term fulfillment of the patient.

For patients who are more sensitive to medicines, a compounding pharmacy allows the healthcare practitioners to prescribe the compounding medicines, which are free from preservatives or allergens.

Most compounding pharmacies prepare their compounding drugs without the incorporation of synthetic colors, chemicals, aromas, or flavoring agents. This ensures that the patients will not experience any side effects.

Most of the compounding medicines intended for kids will be prepared in the form of drops, syrups, and lozenges. However, some flavoring will be added, if preferred, to make them more edible for them.

As both compounding pharmacists and pharmacies usually adhere to maximum standards and rules set by the National Association of Boards, the United States Pharmacopeia, and the State Boards of Pharmacy for quality guarantee and accuracy, patients can rest guaranteed that they would get the purest form of compounding drugs for their ailments. Usually, any licensed compounding pharmacy will strictly adhere to the maximum quality standards of the compounded drug industry.

Conclusion

As compounding is an essential activity to the pharmacy practice, pharmacists are provided with appropriate education on the way to prepare the compound medicines properly. Usually, compounding medicine pharmacists can get their license to prepare the medicines only after successfully coming out of their test on compounding skills and knowledge, conducted by their respective states. Compounding pharmacists who practice in a pharmacy that specializes in offering compounding services, will usually have an advanced education on compounding, following they graduated from their pharmacy school. At present, no state needs a particular kind of training on compounding, and no nationally accepted area of expertise subsists for pharmaceutical compounding.

Anderson Triggs is currently the Director of Operations for United Pharmacy in West Palm Beach, FL.