Compounding for Hospice Care
Compounding for Hospice patients
Compounded preparations can improve therapeutic outcomes, reduce side effects, and reduce the stress and discomfort associated with end-of-life care. Compounding medications for hospice patients is essential when other therapies fail or commercially manufactured medications are unavailable. If your patient requires alternative dosage forms, has allergies or side effects to commercially available products, or requires the use of multiple therapies combined into one medication, compounding pharmacists have the ability to customize compounded medications to meet these needs.
Caring for a loved one in a hospice environment can be challenging. You, the physician, and your Northwest Compounding Pharmacist can provide personalized symptom control and pain relief.
Hospice care:
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
- Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
- Intends neither to hasten nor postpone death
- Provides a support system to help the family cope
- Uses a team approach to the needs of patients and their families
- Improve Life Quality
Hospice care is used in the early stages of the disease along with other therapies designed to last longer, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
The need for hospice compounding is growing.
As the elderly population grows, the need for compassionate attention becomes more important. At the heart of hospice care, the person has the right to free pain and dignity. In many cases, care is provided in the patient's home with a loved one who serves as the primary caregiver.
Fusion options.
Unique combinations of medications can be used to allow patients to continue to tolerate their pain threshold. Through composition, a doctor and a pharmacist can design a specific medication for the exact needs of the patient.
The relief can be adapted to the specific needs of a patient.
The most common symptoms experienced in end-of-life care: such as pain, nausea / vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, pressure ulcers, and anxiety can be treated through capitalization.
Hospice care centers around pain management.
The goal is to relieve as much pain as possible without causing sedation or adverse side effects. Because patients vary in size, tolerance and need, commercially available drugs often do not provide the appropriate strength or method of administration. Relief can be tailored to the specific needs of a patient. Unique drug combinations can be made to allow patients to live normally within their pain threshold. By assembling, a doctor and a pharmacist can develop a specific drug for the exact needs of the patient.
Hospice Compounding for unique needs.
- Alternative ways of administration
- Individualized pain therapy
- Nausea and vomiting
- Inhalation therapy
- Emergency kits
- Ulcers in the mouth
- Salivary stimulants
- Additional therapy
Why choose Compounded Hospice Medications?
There are several benefits associated with choosing hospice compounding services for a loved one, and they include:
Medicines can be customized to the precise dosage the patient requires, even if it not a standard dose usually offered by the drug company. In a hospice setting, commercially available drug strengths are often not strong enough to address a patient’s pain issues. We can prepare the precise dose that a patient needs to stay comfortable.
- Accessibility To Medicines That Are Unavailable Or Discontinued
Since a compounding pharmacy makes its own medications, it is not affected by medication shortages or those that are discontinued in the same manner as retail pharmacies. You will be able to place orders for your loved one’s prescriptions and have them filled without the delays that other customers may face.
We can provide forms which are easier to tolerate by patients who are in hospice care, such as transdermal pain creams or gels, suckers, liquids and sprays amongst others. This type of preparation will help patients who find it difficult or impossible to swallow normal pills and will eliminate the necessity for uncomfortable or even painful injections.
Certain flavorings are not very palatable to patients in hospice care, such as sweetness. We can prepare medications in preparations that are pleasant to take, ensuring that your loved one will get the full benefit of the medicine.
- Multiple Medications Into A Single Dosage
Since patients are often taking more than one medication, a compounding pharmacy can often combine them into a single dosage, such as a transdermal gel, capsule or a suppository. This makes it easier to track whether medications have been taken for staff and makes the experience of having to take medicine more convenient and less intrusive for the patient.
Examples of Compounding Medications for Hospice Care
- Decubitus Ulcer Cream or Wound Care Combination
This compounded prescription medication contains Misoprostol for coating and Phenyltoin, an anti-ulcerative agent, for proliferation of new cells, and Lidocaine, a local anesthetic, for pain.
- ABH Topical Gel / suppositories / capsules
This prescription medication contains lorazepam, diphenhydramine, and haloperidol and may be used in patients receiving chemotherapy who experience severe nausea, vomiting, and restlessness.
- Gabapentin / ketoprofen / lidocaine in a transdermal gel
This prescription medication includes gabapentin, an anti-epileptic drug with analgesic properties, ketoprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and lidocaine, a topical anesthetic. This compound product is used for topical application and may be useful in the treatment of pain associated with diabetic neuropathy.
- Dexamethasone 1.2%, Lorazepam 0.1%, Haloperidol 0.1%, Diphenhydramine HCl 2.4% and Metroclopramide HCl 2.4% in a Transdermal Base
This compounded prescription medication is used to treat severe nausea, vomiting, and restlessness . It is a modification of the "ABHR" combination. The drug is composed in a transdermal base that allows a rapid absorption of the active ingredients through the skin.
