Why do I need a compounding software?

Compounding is labor-intensive. We’ve all shared long days on the tools, weighing, packing, encapsulating, mixing. At the same time, you may make 10, 20, or 50 individual compounds daily. How can we ensure that there are no mistakes when running flat out? Let’s not forget about running a business too.

Compounding software exists primarily to solve this problem by organizing, validating, and documenting this process. It serves to check your work and do the heavy lifting. At a minimum, your compounding software should do these three basic things:

• Validating the ingredient and weight
• Document the batch used
• Document the quantity used

And more realistically, it should also:

• Record your compounds/scripts
• Manage stock on hand
• Keep logs of the compounding process
• Hold your master formulas

Let’s go over these.

Most compounds have more than one ingredient; regardless of whether you’re green, red, or blue, all the bottles look the same. We need to ensure that we weigh, we are weighing the correct API. You want to give them 100mg of progesterone and 1mg of testosterone, not the other way round. So how can we check that we’ve used the correct white, odorless, crystalline powder?

To do this, we need barcode validation, a system to confirm that we are using a known batch of progesterone when weighing the progesterone. The barcode listed on the API will be scanned and matched, and then the system should inform the user that they have scanned the correct/incorrect ingredient. At the same time, the system should document the batch number.

After we’ve scanned, we need to weigh. How can we validate that the user has weighed the correct amount of API and not accidentally weighed the amount of a different API in the formula? To avoid this error, the balance weight must be checked against the formula weight for the scanned ingredient. Once the quantity is confirmed, the system should inform the user that they have weighed the correct/incorrect quantity.

This one is dead simple; Your pharmacy needs a way to trace from batch number back to the patient if any lot is recalled. The software should self-document this for you as you confirm the batch. The software should provide a way for you to look up this information quickly. Can you imagine sifting through thousands of batch worksheets looking for a batch number in the middle of a recall?

When weighed, the quantity should be recorded by your compounding software. You may need to weigh multiple times depending on the balance you’re using and the amount to be weighed. At this point, any inventory management system connected to your compounding software should record the quantity used and subtract it from the stock on hand accordingly.

At this point, any inventory management system connected to your compounding software should record the quantity used and subtract it from the stock on hand accordingly.

Without a compounding software you are flying blind, unprotected, and at high risk of error.

All names and medical data shown in software screenshots are fictional and for demonstration purposes only. These figures represent fictional persons; any resemblance to real individuals is purely coincidental. Use of existing fictional names is for illustrative purposes and does not imply affiliation or endorsement.