Key Considerations in Pharmacy Outsourcing: Understanding Risks and Managing Liability

Pharmacists appear to be increasingly turning to outsourcing as an option for managing drug preparation tasks, especially for sterile products whose preparation may be time- and labor-intensive. Outsourcing requires that the pharmacy carefully consider exactly what is being outsourced and why. In most cases, outsourcing provides less protection from liability than many pharmacists believe. To understand the risks of the outsourcing and how to manage the potential liabilities, it is important to understand where compounding practices started and how outsourced compounding vendors originated. Even though various resources exist to guide the evaluation of compounding outsource vendors, key decision makers (eg, hospital administrators, directors of pharmacy, the most responsible pharmacist) have no way to truly gauge the quality of outsourced compounding vendors unless they are properly regulated and the rules and regulations are clearly stated and available for review. Pharmacists should be prepared to investigate a potential outsource vendor and critically review their facilities, procedures, and documentation to ensure that dose preparation is properly performed and controlled. This article presents key performance quality indicators to review during a site visit to vet a possible outsourcing partner.