Accreditation for Compounding Pharmacies

As a member of the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB), NCPA is committed to uniform accreditation standards for the compounding profession. PCAB will set tough, national standards that pharmacies will have to meet to obtain accreditation. The process will ensure that pharmacies from coast to coast have in place sound practices, processes, facilities, equipment and personnel to prepare compounded medications for their patients.

Voluntary Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Program
Compounding pharmacists play a vital role in their patients' lives, providing customized medications ordered by prescribers, sometimes when all other options will not work. Compounded medications are prepared by pharmacists for individual patients, often with special needs.

With an estimated 30 million to 40 million prescriptions compounded each year, the pharmacy profession saw a need for an enhanced, profession-wide system of standards by which each compounding pharmacy can test its quality processes. Compounding pharmacists also wanted a mechanism to allow them to indicate that their quality is high and that their patients are as safe as possible. PCAB Accreditation gives patients and prescribers a way to select a pharmacy that meets high quality standards.

Founding of Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB™)
Eight of the nation's leading pharmacy organizations joined together, contributing their time, money and leadership to make PCAB, a voluntary system of standards for compounding pharmacies, a reality. PCAB has created stringent standards and the accreditation process is underway. This is an important step for the profession of pharmacy and the practice of compounding. PCAB is exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (C) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to PCAB may be deductible under section 170 of the Code.

PCAB Mission

The mission of PCAB is to serve the public good by serving pharmacy, patients and prescribers:

  • to organize and carryout a comprehensive program of voluntary accreditation in the practice of pharmacy compounding.
  • to promote, develop and maintain principles, policies and standards for the practice of pharmacy compounding in the public interest and to apply these in the accreditation of pharmacies that offer pharmacy compounding to improve the quality and safety of pharmacy compounding provided to the general public
  • to offer to the public and prescribers a way to identify the pharmacies that satisfy accreditation criteria.
  • to provide a public forum for information on the practice of pharmacy compounding, and
  • to educate the public on the importance of pharmacy compounding.
     

More Information About PCAB

More Information About Compounding

  • Congressional Action PDF (354k)
     
  • Letter to FDA dated February 1, 2008 addressing January 9, 2008 FDA Action against Compounding Pharmacy Operators PDF (96k)
     
  • Letter to FDA dated November 17, 2008 addressing October 2008 FDA Correspondence with Compounding Pharmacies PDF (79k)