Do compounded prescriptions typically use National Drug Codes (NDCs)?

• A. Yes, Always
• B. No, They Typically Do Not
• C. Only for Veterinary Products
• D. They Use a Unique Compounding NDC

Answer: (B)

National Drug Codes are the standardized identifiers assigned to manufactured, mass-produced drug products for tracking, billing, and recalls across the supply chain. Compounded prescriptions are custom preparations made by the pharmacist for a specific patient, not a standard marketed product. Because the finished compound is unique to the patient and formulation, there isn’t a universal NDC assigned to that final product. Some pharmacies may keep internal compound numbers or rely on the NDCs of the individual ingredients for record-keeping or billing, but these are not universal identifiers for the finished compounded product. For this reason, compounded prescriptions typically do not use NDCs.