Roundtable Identifies Opportunities for Outsourcers of Compounded Drugs

Outsourcing facilities are the only entities allowed to sell standardized supplies of compounded drugs, so robust formation of this sector is important to ensure that “office stock” drugs are available to health care providers and their patients who need them.

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Outsourcing facilities produce stock supplies of compounded drugs under quality standards appropriate for large-scale production. They were authorized by federal law in 2013, but the viability of this new sector depends on outsourcing facilities understanding the market for supplies of compounded drugs used by doctor’s offices and hospitals. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists recently published the proceedings of a roundtable, co-hosted with The Pew Charitable Trusts, that provide details on how outsourcing facilities can best meet the requirements of health care providers.

At the roundtable, representatives from two key stakeholder groups—outsourcing facilities and the health care providers that frequently purchase products from them—identified ways to help ensure that outsourcers can reliably supply the products patients need their doctors to have on hand.  One such strategy is increased product standardization, which provides outsourcers with the bottom-line advantages of economies of scale and enables providers to streamline processes, reduce waste, and increase patient safety.

This proceedings document comes at a critical period of transition as the new outsourcing facility sector is forming.  Outsourcing facilities are the only entities allowed to sell standardized supplies of compounded drugs, so robust formation of this sector is important to ensure that “office stock” drugs are available to health care providers and their patients who need them.

Proceedings from the roundtable may be accessed at the link below.

Elizabeth Jungman directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ work on public health.