Why choose Westchase Specialty Pharmacy?

Compounding is often said to be the “birth-right” of any licensed pharmacist, and in the eyes of most states’ Boards of Pharmacy, that is true.  Any pharmacist may legally compound a prescription for a patient pursuant to a valid prescription from a prescriber.  However, compounding skills are not equal among pharmacists.  Like in any field, pharmacists develop their skills and specialize practices, so you should be sure that your pharmacist is focused on compounding.

click on each one to learn how they apply to Westchase Specialty Pharmacy:

• Training: pharmacy schools place very different emphasis on teaching their Future Pharmacists how to compound.  In fact, a number of pharmacy schools do not even have a laboratory facility, so their students never practice this artful science before they graduate.

• Licensure exams vary by state, and all but a handful of states have eliminated the compounding portion of their licensure exams.  This explain the decrease in teaching compounding in pharmacy schools, but also eliminates any standards of basic competence in compounding for state licensure.

• Equipment:  since not every pharmacy performs compounding, state pharmacy laws only require any pharmacy to keep the most basic (and often outdated) equipment on-hand. Having such antiquated equipment in the pharmacy simply meets the legal requirement, but does not imply that it can be used appropriately and accurately, nor that it is the best equipment for the task.

• Quality Control and Assurance: most state pharmacy laws do not require pharmacies to test their non-sterile compounded preparations for potency to determine how accurately the dose of the compounded medication matches the prescribed dose.  The facility should have rigorous quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) programs that include such potency tests, as well as procedures to identify and remedy any errors.
  

• Standards: In the absence of consistent quality standards between states’ pharmacy laws, seven national professional pharmacy associations have joined with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) to create the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB).  This organization has defined a series of standards for the compounding facility that encourage and enable compounders to create high-quality compounded preparations.  A PCAB Accredited pharmacy “adhere[s] to quality standards and to principles of the profession,” as defined by PCAB.  Pharmacies must undergo an extensive application process, demonstrate their standard operating procedures are in compliance with the rigorous PCAB standards, and pass an initial and subsequent on-site inspections in order to receive and maintain a Certificate of Accreditation.  While still a voluntary procedure, a growing number of pharmacies are working toward PCAB Accreditation.  Please visit www.pcab.org for more information on the organization and its standards.
  

Training

Each compounder at Westchase Specialty Pharmacy has completed extensive training through the Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA), the industry leader in compounding pharmacy since 1981.  PCCA’s four-day “Primary Training” course for pharmacists and two-day “Techniques for Technicians” course for pharmacy technicians ensure that any graduate will be able to return to their pharmacies and compound the highest quality preparations with accuracy, safety, and confidence.  Not only do Westchase’s compounders receive initial training from PCCA, they also attend seminars and training courses pertaining to a wide variety of topics throughout the year.  Each year, Westchase compounders review their techniques and are required to pass Excellence Assurance procedures to demonstrate their abilities in the lab.

Equipment
The compounding labs at Westchase Specialty Pharmacy do not settle for simply meeting legal requirements, especially in regard to equipment and tools.  The most contemporary equipment that improves quality, ensures safety, and enhances efficiency is used.  To see how these technologically-advanced tools are used at Westchase Specialty Pharmacy, please visit the “Modern Equipment of Compounding” page and the “”Visit” Westchase Pharmacy” page.

Quality Control and Assurance
Quality control and quality assurance are of utmost importance at Westchase Specialty Pharmacy, second only to providing exceptional personal patient care.  The QA and QC procedures at Westchase are extensive and continuously implemented.  Every staff member at Westchase is initially trained on each QA and QC procedure, tested on their understanding, monitored for compliance on an ongoing basis, and re-tested annually.  Some quality assurance steps are common regardless of the compounding activity, but quality control procedures are specific to the dosage form being compounded.  For instance, every chemical used in compounding any dosage form is bar-code scanned and triple-checked for accuracy as part of the on-going QA program.  A QC program specific to capsules includes weighing samples of those capsules and comparing them to the standard.  Some standards are defined by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and usually allow for a small margin of error.  Certain medications may dictate a smaller allowable error.  However, Westchase Specialty Pharmacy strives to fulfill more strict quality measures in order to provide you with the highest quality preparations.

Westchase Specialty Pharmacy does utilize the services of independent analytical laboratories to evaluate the potency of non-sterile compounded preparations.  “Potency” refers to how accurately the dose of the compounded medication matches the prescribed dose.  While some QC tests can be performed at the pharmacy, it is important that other analyses – like potency testing – be performed by an independent (non-biased) laboratory with not only the appropriate technology and training, but also with a profound understanding of compounding pharmacy.  Since compounding is a specialty field, the laboratory must be intimately familiar with the concepts, formulations, and ingredients utilized in a compounding lab.

Standards
Westchase Specialty Pharmacy is in the process of applying for PCAB Accreditation.  We look forward to joining the ranks of other compounding pharmacies whose high expectations for quality and safety have met PCAB’s standards, and we will proudly display the “PCAB Accredited seal” on our home page.

...Return to Top...

So, how do you know if your pharmacy can compound the highest quality prescriptions?  Simple: just ask.  Ask your pharmacist when and how they were trained in compounding, and how staff is trained.  Ask for details on their QA and QC programs.  Ask them to review with you the results of their most recent potency test and how they selected the independent laboratory that performed the test.  Ask them for a tour of their compounding facility.  A compounding pharmacist will be proud of all these elements and how they work together to make the best preparation for you.  Westchase Specialty Pharmacy is happy to share this information with you.

Your experience at Westchase Specialty Pharmacy will include more than brief glimpses of a pharmacist or impersonal drive-through windows. Westchase Specialty Pharmacy believes pharmacists should spend time with their patients, understand what each person truly needs from his or her medicine, and apply the advanced skills of compounding to maximize each person’s wellness.