qual-i-ty
the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind;
the degree of excellence of something.
That’s how Google defines quality. Something based on standards which can be measured on a scale of low to high when compared to similar things. Most of us analyze quality every day. From comparing apples at the grocery store to houses you will raise your family in, the scale of importance is wide. Without a doubt, quality of health care is at the top of the importance scale. It’s not just something we compare to another, hoping it’s better than similar care. We want it to be a 10. We need it to be a 10.
Coastal strives to make the quality of your medication a 10 every day. Before you receive your prescription, it has been scrutinized by six to ten of our team members to ensure you are given the highest level of attention and care. We verify that you are receiving the correct drug, strength, amount and form. This high level of attention extends to your pet’s prescriptions, too!
Consistency
Through standardized policies and procedures we work to ensure your product is consistently handled by our staff each and every time we work with your prescriptions. We do this through extensive volumes of carefully maintained operating procedures. These procedures define guidelines for our staff to follow, ensuring that high standards of quality are met.
We use specialized software that houses the formulas used for our compounded drugs to ensure consistency of formulations. We use these formulas to create a record of each batch of product that we make for our customers. This gives us the ability to look back at previous batches of product we have dispensed to you. If there’s ever a question about what you have received, we can retrieve it at the click of a button.
Weights
We use validated analytical scales to weigh the ingredients used to make your compound. The scales are connected to our compounding software so each weight is captured and recorded in the batch record. Before you receive the final product, the pharmacist verifies that the weights are correct to ensure you are receiving the correct amount.
Quality Ingredients
Quality starts with the chemicals we receive. We only purchase pharmaceutical grade chemicals from FDA and DEA fully-registered facilities. These regulated facilities perform checks and analysis on each chemical. The result of this scrutiny often leads to rejecting chemicals that do not meet their standards. We further scrutinize the documentation they provide to make sure it is up to our standards before use. If it’s not, we send it back.
Processes and Staff
Every compound goes through a quality assessment by the lab technician and pharmacist. In addition to these constant in-house quality assessments, our processes and technicians are validated by an outside analytical lab throughout the year. This assures that our processes and technicians are producing medications to the intended specifications. We also require our lab technicians to be certified by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB). This is the highest credentialing for a pharmacy technician.
Check Please
Before your prescription reaches your hands (or paws) we check to make sure we are giving you a product up to our quality of standards. We understand medication is often an essential part of a treatment plan. When it comes to the quality of those medications, quality is an essential part of positive outcomes and quality of life. To us, quality is what we build our business around. It’s a standard of care that we have spent years establishing and we continue to improve upon.
At Coastal Pharmacy & Wellness, we value the trust you place in us and pledge to continue earning that trust with every compound we make for you. If you have further questions about our quality standards, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
About the Author
Sean Fitzgerald
