CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy
A Trusted Compounding Pharmacy for Patients

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edications do not work for patients who don’t take them,” clearly highlights the issue of non-adherence to treatment, which has become a growing public health concern. Although various factors contribute to medication non-adherence in patients, difficulty in taking off-the-shelf dosage forms, sensitivity to taste and smell, or allergies to inactive ingredients are some factors. These factors can lead to non compliance, adverse medical outcomes and higher costs of patient care.

To improve medication adherence and patient care, custom compounding medications to meet a patient’s need is the ideal solution. CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy plays a key role, by working closely with physicians to formulate medication specific to a patient’s needs. Whether it is changing an ingredient, flavor, strength or dosage form makes it more palatable and easier to take, leading to compliance.

CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy is nationally accredited by the Accreditation Certificate for Healthcare (ACHC) Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB) and NABP’s DIGITAL PHARMACY and Health Care Merchants accreditations. Being able to compound and formulate an individualized, custom medications helps patients overcome the challenges of non-adherence to treatment, leading to improved health outcomes and reduced costs of care due to lack of adherence, making the patient treatment journey easier.

Medication adherence is only one of many reasons CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy can help patients with their compounding expertise. In addition to adherence, CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy uses many FDA approved active ingredients to develop new dosage forms and therapy options for treatments of many conditions where treatments are currently not available in the market. Helping with compounding medications that are currently on the FDA’s back order list. Along with many other medications.

The Multi-Faceted Expertise

CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy develops formulations for various treatment areas, including dermatology, autoimmune disorders, thyroid, sexual health, women’s and men’s health, hormone replacement, pain management, and veterinary medications. The compounding team at CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy is a leader in formulating preparations such as low dose naltrexone (LDN), containing the active ingredient naltrexone, which is FDA approved to be used as a competitive blocker of opioid receptors. Compounding naltrexone to lower doses have been found to greatly help patients with pain caused by autoimmune disorders. CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy is a trusted compounding partner of low dose naltrexone, and is trusted by prescriber nationally.

In one case study, a doctor treating a patient with fibromyalgia contacted CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy and worked with its pharmacists to develop a unique LDN therapy. The medical triad (patient, physician and pharmacy) team created a regimen that helped this specific patient where traditional options had failed.

“At CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy, we understand the struggles of patients with allergies inability to take commercially available drugs for their medical conditions,” says Sunny Thakrar, Pharmacist in Charge and COO of CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy.

“We work closely with physicians to formulate and compound personalized medications taking into consideration the patient’s state of health, existing medicaitons, and allergy profile.”

CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy’s capabilities in formulating medications for patients with severe allergies and sensitivities were best demonstrated when it helped a patient diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Since people with this disease are highly sensitive and allergic to multiple inactive ingredients, finding the right compounding pharmacy to formulate a medication without ingredients triggering the allergic reaction or sensitivity was an uphill struggle for the physician. CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy’s pharmacists worked closely with the patients and prescriber to formulate the best-suited compounded medications that helped her seamlessly continue her thereapy.

Not only does CareFirst Specialty pharmacy help human patients, they have become the pharmacy of choice for many veterinarians. Excelling at compounding medications for pets, CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy understands pet owners’ struggle when giving medication to their pet, as most pets refuse to swallow medicines. CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy offers options like mini dose tablets, flavored chewable, flavored treats, flavored creams and transdermal preparations, helping owners maintain good pet health and compliance. For instance, it helped a client whose cat couldn’t consume the oral formulation. A customized transdermal compound cream was formulated to apply to the cat’s ear, assisting them in continuing the therapy.

Quality at the Heart of Success

“We have many accreditations by the Accreditation Certificate for Health Care (ACHC), Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB), LegitScript, and NABP’s DIGITAL PHARMACY and HealthCare Merchants accreditations. We partner with independent labs to confirm delivery of our highest quality of medication and regularly validate our processes” says Mr. Thakrar.

These accreditations demonstrate CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy’s dedication and commitment to providing safe, high-quality, and personalized medications that meet each patient’s specific medical needs. The firm embraces stringent quality control, while setting high standards in demonstrating trust, reliability, value, and commitment to patients and prescribing physicians. It aligns with state and national pharmacy compounding standards and complies with the USP 795 and 800 guidelines for compounding non-sterile preparations.

A testament to CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy’s focus on quality is its ability and willingness to leverage the best and latest technology to formulate medications and drive results. It operates a state-of-the-art compounding lab and constantly searches for the newest equipment and technology to provide patients with the highest quality custom preparations. In addition, it uses leading equipment for mixing technology, to perform mixing and deaeration simultaneously by revolving and rotating the container concurrently, ensuring uniform and accurate formulations.

Importantly, CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy’s management team, pharmacists, and technicians have extensive hands-on compounding experience, making it a leader in formulating and developing innovative compounded medications. They are regularly trained and educated to excel at compounding medications using industry best practices for meeting specific needs and providing better outcomes for patients.

“Along with our technological capabilities, we have robust infrastructural support—a 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art compounding facility,” elaborates Mr. Thakrar. The firm offers nationwide shipping, allowing hassle-free access to its medicines for all patients across the U.S.

CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy is aware of the growing need for personalized medications. To that end, it aspires to expand its existing infrastructure and technological capabilities and continue developing its relationships with doctors across the U.S. to serve more human and veterinary patients and set them on a safe and effective treatment journey.