ASHP Guidelines on Outsourcing Sterile Compounding Services.

Health care organizations considering outsourcing sterile compounding services should have a clear understanding of what they want to accomplish. Consideration should include, at the least, an internal needs assessment, a cost analysis, and a careful review of prospective compounding pharmacies. The organization should examine the potential long-term consequences of outsourcing as well as the short-term outcomes expected during a contract’s performance period. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide an overview of factors and processes for health care organizations to consider when exploring outsourcing of pharmacy sterile compounding. The ideas presented in this document could be used for strategic planning with the organization’s decision-makers, for drafting contract provisions, for comparing prospective compounding pharmacies, for preparing for contract negotiations, or for evaluating a compounding pharmacy’s performance. This document includes ideas about reasons for outsourcing and reasons for not outsourcing, services available from compounding pharmacies, the outsourcing process and outsourcing arrangements, and evaluation of a compounding pharmacy’s performance. The appendix provides a topical list of contract provisions, some of which relate to practices that are the subject of other American Society of Health-System Pharmacy (ASHP) guidelines. Organizations should refer to pertinent ASHP guidelines for additional information on which to base their contract provisions, agreements, and decisions. This document addresses representative outsourcing options and contract agreements and is not intended to cover all situations. Managers of pharmacy and health care organizations should use their professional judgment about applicability to their own needs and circumstances.