What is Compounding?
Compounding is the ‘lost’ art of preparing individualized medications for patients that have special or unique needs. This was the original method of preparing medications until manufacturers came on the scene and began to prepare mass quantities of medications for everyone.
This may have been adequate for most, as it gave uniformity and consistency, however it also began to pigeon hole patients into various categories. It does not take into account the patient that has a unique need, i.e. an allergy to a dye in a commercially available product. This is where compounding comes in. Compounding pharmacists are able to prepare medications that fit a unique need. It requires being able to think through complex problems and have open communication with the provider and patient.
It is our opinion that compounding pharmacy gets back to the heart of what pharmacy is. Pharmacy has changed quite a bit since the days when pharmacists (who were known as druggists or chemists) prepared and dispensed medications from various plants and herbs. Pharmacists are now (and always have been) considered information specialists, who are there to dispense prescription advice to both patients and providers. While this is a good thing and very necessary, there is still a place for the compounder who supplies both information and a very specialized and individualized product.
Technology has made compounding a much more exact science, with the advent of digital scales and electronic mortar and pestles etc. We are able to achieve the necessary precision and accuracy that is expected.