Medicare oversight of hospital compounding gets middling marks from inspector general: Accreditors look closely at some practices but not at others

摘要

Areport from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG)1 raises questions about Medicare's monitoring of hospital preparation of compounded sterile products (CSPs) and hospital purchases of CSPs from outside vendors. Medicare essentially outsources that monitoring to hospital accreditation certification organizations, which have very limited pharmacy expertise. Almost all hospitals compound sterile drugs in-house and, in addition, contract with outside suppliers that may provide CSPs at critical times, particularly during drug shortages.