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Federal Watchdogs to Turn Up the Heat on Pharmacy Compounding This Year, AIS Newsletter Reports

Pharmacy compounding is shaping up to be a hot spot this year. The March 10 issue of Atlantic Information Services, Inc.’s (AIS) Report on Medicare Compliance offers a full overview of the issue and its ramifications on hospitals and physicians

Washington, DC (PRWEB) March 12, 2014

Pharmacy compounding — the mixing of two or more ingredients to tailor a drug to a specific patient’s needs — is shaping up to be a hot spot this year, as Medicare and FDA watchdogs turn up the heat on compounding by hospitals, compounding by manufacturers and the way in which they intersect. The increased scrutiny on compounding is raising the compliance and quality improvement stakes for a service that may fall through the regulatory cracks. The March 10 issue of Atlantic Information Services, Inc.’s (AIS) Report on Medicare Compliance offers a full overview of the issue and its ramifications.
When performed at hospitals, pharmacies and other health care facilities, compounding is governed by Chapter 797 of US Pharmacopeia (USP), which is enforced by state pharmacy boards, says Phillip Williams, Pharm.D., administrative director of pharmacy services for Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare in Naperville, Ill. Compounding sterile products by a manufacturer in large batches is regulated by the states and, depending on the circumstances, the FDA. In January, the agency urged hospitals to buy drugs only from compounders that voluntarily register with the agency and abide by “good manufacturing practices.”
Compounding also is a new target on the 2014 Work Plan for HHS’s Office of Inspector General, with the OIG eyeing practices inside hospitals and oversight by Medicare accreditors.
As the risks of drug compounding come into sharper focus, hospitals are caught between a rock and a hard place. Either hospitals try to shift the risks of compounding drugs by outsourcing more of them at the price of oversight, or bring compounding back in-house without providing adequate quality assurance, Margaret Hambleton, vice president and chief compliance officer at Dignity Health in California, says. “It again highlights the need for compliance to be aware of the hospital’s quality assurance and performance improvement plan, which is a requirement of its Medicare conditions of participation,” she says.
“It’s an area that has not had sufficient concern in hospitals and has not risen to the level of other organizational risks,” Hambleton continues. “If you haven’t done a gap analysis using experts, I recommend it.”
Visit http://aishealth.com/archive/rmc031014-01 to read the article in its entirety.
About Report on Medicare Compliance
The industry's #1 source of timely news and proven strategies on Medicare compliance, Stark and other big-dollar issues of concern to health care compliance officers, the award-winning Report on Medicare Compliance identifies and provides valuable guidance on dozens of high-risk billing and documentation problems and foreshadows the next moves of federal enforcers and their armies of RAC, ZPIC and MAC auditors. “The best information there is for hospital compliance officers,” the 8-page weekly newsletter includes insights and strategies not available anywhere else.
Since 1992, Report on Medicare Compliance has been written by Nina Youngstrom, who has a reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable journalists and incisive writers in the field. With excellent contacts at the IG's office and at CMS, and strong relationships among industry experts and compliance officers, each issue of Report on Medicare Compliance contains exclusive, inside news. Visit http://aishealth.com/marketplace/report-medicare-compliance for more information.
About AIS
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) is a publishing and information company that has been serving the health care industry for more than 25 years. It develops highly targeted news, data and strategic information for managers in hospitals, health plans, medical group practices, pharmaceutical companies and other health care organizations. AIS products include print and electronic newsletters, websites, looseleafs, books, strategic reports, databases, webinars and conferences. Learn more at http://AISHealth.com.
Contact
Jill Brown, Executive Editor
Atlantic Information Services, Inc.    
(202) 775-9008, ext. 3058
jbrown(at)aishealth(dot)com
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