Pros & Cons of Retail & Compounding Pharmacies

Consulting the best physician doesn’t help unless you find the prescribed medications to improve your health. The healthcare system relies on pharmacies to fulfill the medication needs of the patients. Pharmacies perform a vital role in providing prescribed medications that are manufactured by large pharmaceutical companies. Despite the important role played by pharmacies and our dependence on them, not many patients are aware of the various types of pharmacies available. We think the medicine shops and pharmacies in the hospital are the only options available to get the needed drug. But this isn’t true. Besides general pharmacies, also known as retail pharmacies, another option is compounding pharmacies.

Unless you take a specialist prescription, the concept of a compounding pharmacy may be foreign to you. Compounding pharmacies differ from standard pharmacies in that they can provide a wide range of specialized services to you and your pharmaceutical needs. To get a clear understanding of different types of pharmacies, let’s check out the pros and cons of retail and compounding pharmacies.

Compounding Pharmacy

While there are similarities between compounding and traditional pharmacies, the methods of manufacturing medication are not the same. Typically, the differences between compounding and retail pharmacies are more than similarities. In simple words, compound medications mean customized medication. Compounding pharmacies can manufacture medications that are tailored to the needs of particular patients. Compound pharmacies focus on the needs of individual patients while retail pharmacies provide drugs for the masses. Technicians in compounding pharmacies will contact each patient and gather all of their information to guarantee that they are receiving the correct medication. Unlike retail pharmacists, compound pharmacists are more qualified to deliver custom-made drugs. While general pharmacies sell a pre-mixed formula, the compounding pharmacist starts with base medications and then combines and prepares them to meet the needs of the specific patient. So, the key benefits of using compounding medications include:

•                  Get the tailored medication

•                  Remove allergens from the formula like dyes and preservatives

•                  Adjust dosage

•                  Improve medication taste

•                  Customize medication forms such as liquid or ointment

 

General Pharmacy

Traditional pharmacies are most widely used because they provide quick access to medication. The pre-packed formulas are stocked at retail stores that can be purchased right away. These commercially manufactured medications are best when you need quick relief such as cold and flu tablets. However, if you’re allergic to some ingredients found in commercial formulas or your doctor has prescribed a higher or lower dosage, then you need a compound pharmacy. Retail pharmacies only sell drugs that are produced by pharmaceuticals on a large scale using pre-set formulas and dosages. That leaves little room for personalized healthcare. Many medications are also designed for average body weights or are predominantly tested on one sex, resulting in a "one size fits all" approach.

While buying medications at a retail pharmacy is an easy and quick solution, it may not always work for you. Sometimes, the medication you need gets discontinued because it’s no longer profitable for the company to manufacture it. In that case, the only option you have is to find a compounding pharmacist to get the formula recreated. Moreover, a retail pharmacy is of no help if you need a drug in 50 mg that only comes in 100 mg. You may take the risk of breaking the tablet in half, but there’s no surety to get the right dosage every time. Another downside of retail pharmacies is their inability to alter dosage forms.