What Is Compounding?

The role of the independent community pharmacist is changing these days. Many pharmacists have returned to the early roots of pharmacy, when medications were tailored to the individual's need. Our "problem-solving" pharmacists practice the art of pharmaceutical compounding, which is the method of preparing medications to meet each physician's and patient's unique needs.

Compounding is achieved through an essential triad relationship — patient, physician and pharmacist. The physician first prescribes the medication, and then our pharmacist takes the necessary ingredients, compounds them, and dispenses the medicine to the patient after a thorough consultation, which affords our pharmacist the opportunity to provide superior patient-oriented service.

While there are a variety of reasons for compounding prescription medications, the most important one is to make the medication fit the patient, rather than make the patient fit the medication.. With a physician's consent, we can change the strength of a medication, alter its form to make it easier for the patient to ingest, and add flavor to it to make it more palatable. We can also prepare the medication using several unique delivery systems, such as sublingual troche, or lozenge, or a transdermal cream.

Our compounding pharmacists focus on meeting special needs. The ultimate goal is to prepare a customized medication that will help the physician and patient achieve a more positive therapeutic outcome.