Congress passed this law in recognition of the important role pharmacy compounding plays in promoting patient care. Together, these laws and guidelines establish defined standards over the compounding of medications. However, patients and pharmacists face problems when seeking reimbursement for compounded medications. The first problem for getting reimbursement for compounded medications relates to the use of NDC numbers. Some providers refuse to reimburse or allow on-line billing of prescribed compounded medications because of policies stating that all medications must have an NDC number.
NDC numbers are identifier numbers for manufactured drug products.
NDC numbers do not apply to compounded medications-medications prescribed by a physician that are specially altered to meet a unique patient need. Since NDC numbers are often required for on-line billing, many pharmacists are asked to provide the NDC number of the most expensive product in the compounded medication. However, even if it contains the same active ingredients, the compounded medication does not represent the manufactured product. The result is a compounded medication misbranded with an incorrect NDC number. It is also important to note that an NDC number does not indicate FDA approval.