All medications were once compounded. Due to mass drug manufacturing, the compounding role declined, and pharmacists became more cookie-cutter drug dispensers. Technology advancements and the rise of innovative techniques have allowed pharmacists to customize medications over the last few decades, so exploring the benefits of Compounder as a differentiator in your market is even more crucial today.
We have hand-selected these 5 benefits of pharmacy compounding that illustrate how it can boost your business and help your patients live a healthier and more satisfying life if you are still unsure.
1. Access to Discontinued Medications
The discontinuation of certain drugs by large manufacturers makes it difficult for patients who still need these medications to fill their prescriptions. The role of compounding pharmacists is critical to ensuring that patients have access to discontinued medications by recreating pharmaceutical-based ingredients. Today, compounding pharmacies have access to the highest quality pharmaceutical ingredients and can fill a prescription using the latest research, quality control process, and techniques to meet the patient’s needs and preferences. You can also help your customers get the complete range of medications they need.
2. Making Medication Easy to Use
Many medications have an unpleasant flavor, which makes it difficult for patients to take them as directed. Compounding pharmacists can make the prescription from scratch with the patient’s favorite flavor. Especially helpful when dealing with patients who refuse medications, such as young children, the elderly, or even pets! The patients at your store will thank you once their medications are available in a convenient and easy-to-use form.
3. Allowing Alternative Dosing Methods
Patients may sometimes need their medication in a different dosage form. Patients who have difficulty swallowing pills may find it easier to take their medication in a pleasantly flavored liquid form. Topical medications can be compounded in cream or gel form to allow for absorption into the bloodstream through the skin. A compounding pharmacist offers these products in various dosage forms based on what works best for the patient!
4. Allergy-Friendly Medication
A patient’s allergy, sensitivity, as well as intolerance to dyes, lactose, gluten, or alcohol may lead to the unwanted reactions associated with a particular medication. In some cases, commercially available medications may contain excipients such as fillers and preservatives that the patient cannot tolerate because of sensitivities or allergies. The compounding pharmacist can make a formula without the offensive ingredients, so that the patient can still receive the proper treatment.
5. Providing Unique Services That Pharmacy Chains Do Not Provide
Identifying your patients’ needs should be your top priority when it comes to compounding. What side effects are your patients experiencing? Are they having any questions about their medication? What do you do when you actually start developing a new product? Where do you start? Compounding pharmacies can provide patients with a service they cannot get at most other pharmacies. Using the pharmacist’s extensive drug knowledge, they can help the patient and prescriber create a truly unique treatment plan. Pharmacy compounding often offers solutions to unusual or resistant illnesses that conventional allopathic medicine is unable to treat or has failed to treat.