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Pharmacy dialing is when a pharmacist customizes a prescription by processing a drug in various ways until it is ready for the patient to use. This is required when a patient needs a drug that is not available in a manufactured dosage form or needs the drug in a different dosage than those commonly available. Compounding drugs with the wrong dosages or with incompatible chemicals can lead to injury and death. Prior to the 20th century, most pharmacists were required to purify, prepare, dispense, and even extract many of the drugs they used.
Pharmacy dialing is when a prescription is custom made by a pharmacist. This differs from the more common distribution of prescription drugs in that most prescription drugs are dispensed in manufactured dosage forms. Pharmacy composition requires that the pharmacist start with a drug in a more crude form and then process it in various ways until it is ready for the patient to use.
Most medications in a modern pharmacy require little preparation by the pharmacist. They often come in manufactured dosage forms such as tablets, metered dose inhalers, or other preparations that are ready for the patient to use once distributed. In some rare cases, however, a patient needs a drug that is not available in a manufactured dosage form or needs the drug in a different dosage than those commonly available. When this happens, pharmacists must use their compounding skills to put the drug into a usable form for the patient.
There are many different ways compounding can be accomplished in a pharmacy. A pharmacist may need to crush a tablet and mix it with a transdermal gel for patients who have difficulty swallowing. Active ingredients may need to be measured, mixed, and then encapsulated for patients who need a smaller dosage form or are allergic to chemicals in the manufactured dosage form. A pharmacist may also be required to mix chemicals and medications that aren’t normally dispensed together if directed by a doctor. All of these actions require great skill and the utmost care, as compounding drugs with the wrong dosages or with incompatible chemicals can lead to injury and death.
The results of pharmaceutical compounding are not limited to humans. Animals often take the same drugs as people, but in different forms and dosages. A pharmacist may need to dial in a lower dosage of an antibiotic for a cat if directed by a veterinarian, or prepare blood pressure medicine in a transdermal gel for a small dog that refuses to swallow pills.
Pharmacy compounding may seem like a new practice, but it’s actually a very old one. Prior to the 20th century, most pharmacists were required to purify, prepare, dispense, and even extract many of the drugs they used. This is because medicines were not mass-produced as they are today and often had to be created by the pharmacist from plants and other raw sources. As technology improved and the understanding of how to properly prepare drugs increased, mass production techniques were applied to pharmaceutical products. This has led to the modern pharmaceutical system, where compounding skills are still needed but not used as often as they once were.
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