Do you require special medication to cater to your patient’s needs? Is your prescribed medication not available in pharmacies? Well, not all hope is lost; all you need are the services of a compounding pharmacy. Compounding pharmacies manufacture drugs unique to a given patient and that are not widely available. As you decide to seek these services, you wonder how to settle on the right compounding pharmacy. Worry not; this article guides you appropriately.
Please consider doing the following:
1. Know Your Needs
Understanding your needs is an essential step to know what product to ask for from the compounding pharmacy. Ask your physician to explain your condition and the type of medication you need to restore your health.
Since you seek the services of a compounding pharmacy, the physician gives you a list of the ingredients your medication needs, including their percentages. With this information, you are in a position to vet a compounding pharmacy by asking them to formulate your medication or not.
2. Inquire on Their Procedure
This step helps you gauge the production standards of a given compounding pharmacy.
The first thing you need to ask to see is the Certificate of Analysis, which shows you the quality of the ingredients. The right compounding pharmacy also performs batch testing on their finished products before giving them to you. The testing aims to ensure the medication is compliant with all the required standards and fit for human consumption.
However, you rely not only on their word of mouth; ask them to give you a tour of their production plant. They should take you through the whole procedure systematically. Take note of their cleanliness standards and adherence to policies. Also, compare what they told you by word of mouth with what you see on the ground. If there is any discrepancy, especially if they lied to you initially, please do not hire them. This is a telltale sign of a dishonest company, which means you cannot trust them to manufacture your medication.
Therefore, choose a compounding pharmacy that follows all protocols and ensures quality standards of your medication from the start until they give the drugs to you. Make Google your friend and look for websites where you learn more about the compounding process.
3. Seek Referrals
Referrals play important roles in your selection process, especially if you have no idea where to start or whom to contact. Ask your family and friends if they are aware of any compounding pharmacies nearby.
Another great source of this information is your doctor or an experienced pharmacist. Both have been in the industry for a long time and possibly know the pharmacies that do compounding. In addition, they dealt with various patients before who had the same needs as you. With this, your doctor easily calls them and inquires about the compounding pharmacy used for their other patients’ medication.
The search for a compounding pharmacy is easy and fast by seeking referrals. This allows you to get medication for your condition as soon as possible.
4. Ask to See Documentation
For a compounding pharmacy to render their services, they are accredited and undergo further training on compounding. However, these differ from state to state. A standard pharmacy license suffices to conduct compounding in some states. Therefore, do your research.
If it is necessary for further training, ask to see these certificates, and identify the board that issued them. This helps you determine if the said board exists or not or if the document is forged. Where further training is not required, the compounding pharmacy, both the business and the pharmacists need licenses.
5. Identify Their Source of Products
Compounding pharmacies get their ingredient supplies from vendors in the industry. Inquire about the company that makes the ingredients since it determines the quality of medication you get in the end.
Once you identify the source, do your research on the supplier. Is it a reputable company? Does it have a tinted public image? How many clients or partners do they have? Many clients give you the assurances that most of the population trusts them to produce medical compounds. Also, confirm their compliance with various standards.
You want to hire a compounding pharmacy that sources their raw materials from a reputed brand, and that ensures the ingredients are pure and free of contamination. The purity of a compound determines the potency of your medication, which is why you do your research.
Conclusion
The process of finding a compounding pharmacy is challenging, especially if you do not have any information to guide you. This article highlighted tips that you should implement in your selection process to ensure you hire the right compounding pharmacy for your needs. Implement them in your selection process.
