A family oriented business that is motivated to provide specialty medications for humans and animals a like.
Why Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy?
What Qualifies Grandpa’s As Being One of the Top 0.1% Of All Pharmacies In The Nation?
Ten years ago, there weren’t very many choices when it came to picking a compounding pharmacy. When Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy started in 1996, it was the 22nd compounding only pharmacy in the entire United States. That does not mean that there were only 22 pharmacies that could compound. On the contrary, any licensed pharmacy can compound and many of them do. However, Grandpa’s was the 22nd in the nation to devote 100% of their time to helping patients in unique ways by compounding preparations that could be used by the prescribers and their patients.
While any pharmacist can legally compound, most have never had any training in it and are making it up as they go. The State Board of Pharmacy recognizes the danger of this and has put together a set of standards that will increase the safety of compounded preparations that are given to the public. Grandpa’s was an integral part in this regulation making progress as they were asked at the very beginning to head up the initial task force to design these regulations. This was because of the expertise and reputation Grandpa’s has in the industry. The vast majority of pharmacies are not meeting even the minimum standards that will soon be put in place.
These new standards will include such things as: quality of chemicals, training standards for compounding personnel, standards for equipment, research for each formula used, records of what was used in each batch, quality testing, etc. Having been a consultant for years, we know that many pharmacies who claim to be experts in compounding, are not yet meeting event he basic standards. Many of these have told us, they will not make the changes until they are required to by law. This is not, nor ever has been our philosophy. We have worked since the beginning to have the highest quality standards possible, while serving our patients and doctors in the most efficient ways. So let us take a moment and look at what sets Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy apart from the average pharmacy.
Innovative Pharmacy Practice of the Year
Recently, the California Pharmacists Association did a search of all the pharmacies in the state to find the pharmacy that truly goes out of their way to serve the patients in a unique and meaningful way. After many months of searching, the committee charged with this task unanimously chose Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy because of the unique nature of the business as well as the number of lives positively affected by the service provided. The award was presented by one of the Board of Directors of the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB), the most stringent of all compounding accrediting boards in the world at this time. Some of the reasons that were stated for receiving the award were: 1) Grandpa’s, with the help of the prescribers that work with them, has come up with a number of unique treatments that have been written up in professional journals. 2) Some people have said based on testimonials, or simply by looking at the preparations that are prescribed daily, that Grandpa’s may be saving 3-5 lives per day where all other treatments have failed. 3) They have helped many other pharmacies around the nation and get calls weekly from other pharmacies to learn how to do things. 4) Grandpa’s has been the supplier for drug trials that have been proven effective. 5) Grandpa’s has invented new tools now being used as standard equipment in compounding pharmacies around the world.
One of Only 3 Retail Pharmacies in 14 Counties with High Enough Standards to Compound Sterile Products
After the incident in Walnut Creek where 3 people died and 11 others were hospitalized because a pharmacy did not follow basic procedures, California passed a law that required pharmacies to pass an inspection by the State Board of Pharmacy to verify that they are meeting minimum standards of safety before they make the most technical and potentially dangerous of drug preparations; those that will be injected directly into the body. Initially, only 2 retail pharmacies out of more than 200 in the local 14 counties, qualified under these standards. Grandpa’s Compounding Pharmacy of Placerville, and Prescription Specialists of Woodland were the two that already met these high standards. Finally, after 5 years, only one other pharmacy in those 14 counties has also qualified. This says two things. First, when you are working with Grandpa’s, you know you are dealing with the best. While it is possible for anybody to make a mistake, it is important to know that there are systems in place to minimize any negative affects of a mistake. Grandpa’s has these systems in place and they are verified by an outside source on an annual basis. Second, if you are not working with a company that can even meet minimum safety standards, then you are running the risk of having the same thing happen to your patients as happened to the three people in Walnut Creek. In a profession where “Do No Harm” is an axiom, why would anybody choose to use somebody that doesn’t even care enough about patients to raise their own standards?
Over 1000 people can’t all be wrong
Take a look at your own business. You are probably doing a great job to help your patients. How many of them have taken the time to write a handwritten testimonial of how you helped them? At Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy, we have over 1000 of these handwritten testimonials. We appreciate the time that some of you have taken to write them. Each year we take these to Washington DC to help fight for the rights of doctors and patients to treat diseases in ways that are best for the individual. When the politicians see these, it has a major impact. You see, in their world, one handwritten testimonial is seen as representing the opinion of 1000 people. This is because they find that only 1 in 1000 will take the time to write. They see our 1000 handwritten testimonials as representing the opinions of 1,000,000 people. Now we do not have 1,000,000 customers (yet ), so it shows that our customers are grateful for what we have done and show a greater appreciation that the average business does. In fact, even the other leading compounding pharmacists that go to the national convention are envious of the number of testimonials we have and wish they did as well. Does that tell you something about our level of service and innovation?
