Knowing Compounding Pharmacy Options Can Guide Health Care System Decisions

Two separate concensus statements released in the past few years highlighted the importance of ready-to-use products as the standard for compounding, which underscores the importance of these products in pharmacy, according to a speaker at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting.

Fred Massoomi, PharmD, who is a Senior Consultant with Visante, Inc. discussed compounding options at a Baxter-sponsored tech talk held at the meeting.

He said that ready-to-use products don't involve human contact, giving them an advantage over other options in terms of safety and efficiency.

Dr. Masoomi noted that the key elements involved in central compounding are people, processes, and products. Discussing the "people" component, he said health care systems often experience challenges in finding skilled people to make these products. Discusing the "process" component, he said many hospitals are being forced to "do more with less," meaning that the processes stay the same, or grow, but the people involved in those processes are diminishing. And finally, he said, the "products" are the way to address gaps in efficiency.

Regarding choices for sterile products, Dr. Massomi noted there are premade products, which are kept refrigerated and are the "easiest things you can use," there are outsource compouding pharmacy products, insourcing, and compounding at the bedside, which is mostly for emergency cases, he said. Click here to learn more about what options there are in pharmacy compounding.

Understanding the available options for sterile compounding can help hospital systems make good decisions for their patients, he said, and, as the concensus statements agree, those good options shoudl involve ready-to-use, premade products.