Information resources and software for the hospital compounding pharmacist.

Within the last 20 years, information resources available to compounding pharmacists have grown from extremely limited to readily accessible for easy retrieval in a timely manner. To provide the best possible compounding service to the medical professionals and patients in their community, hospital compounding pharmacists should develop good drug information research skills, build and maintain a good reference library , and have access to reliable compounding resources and medical journals. Compounding information can be found in books; journals; online services such as literature search engines, technical support, and reference websites; medical libraries; and computer software; other sources include professional organizations and networking. Although it can be expensive to develop and maintain, an accurate and up-to date compounding information resource base is necessary to ensure the quality of hospital compounding services.