Preparing for a Pharmacy API Connection: A Scoping Checklist for Telehealth Teams

Most of an API project is decided before the developers meet

Most clinics we talk with want prescriptions to leave their own platform and reach the pharmacy without anyone retyping them. A direct API connection does that, and status comes back to your system as each prescription progresses. The connection itself is the easy part to describe. What decides how smoothly it goes is the preparation on your side before the first technical scoping call.

This is the checklist we would hand a telehealth operations lead who is about to start that conversation with a compounding pharmacy, us or anyone else.

1. Write down how prescriptions reach the pharmacy today

Start with the current route, even if it is manual. Who writes the prescription, where it is entered, how it gets to the pharmacy, and who answers the patient when they ask where it is. If some of your prescribers already use e-prescribing and another location keys orders into a pharmacy portal, note both. The API is replacing a workflow, so the workflow should be on paper first.

2. List what your platform already holds

An order carries information your platform already stores: the patient's name, date of birth and shipping address, the prescriber's details, the medication, strength and directions, and the patient's allergies. Make a simple list of where each item lives in your system and who can change it. The exact fields and direction of data for your connection are confirmed during scoping, so you do not need the final list. You need to know what you have and where it sits.

3. Decide what your team needs to see coming back

Status is the reason most clinics want an API. Before scoping, agree internally on what your operations team and your patient-support staff need to see, and where they will see it. Some teams want status inside the patient's record; others want it on an internal dashboard. Tracking is another decision. Shipment tracking can be connected to the experience your clinic uses to support patients, so decide whether patients see it in your app, by email or both.

4. Bring your formulary and your expected volume

List the preparations your providers prescribe most, with the dosage forms they use. A compounding pharmacy plans capacity around your volume, and a formulary list is the fastest way to start that conversation. Our guide to preparing a formulary list for a compounding pharmacy walks through what to include. If a sensitivity matters to your patients, such as dyes, lactose or other fillers, say so here. It belongs in the formulary conversation, not as an afterthought on each order.

5. Name one owner on each side

An API project stalls when nobody owns it. Name one person on your team who owns the connection and one developer who will do the work. On our side, a dedicated account manager is introduced during onboarding and works with your operations team through go-live and after it. Technical details are worked out between your developers and ours.

6. Keep prescriptions moving while the API is built

Do not let the integration hold up your launch. Your prescribers can send prescriptions by e-prescribing or through our provider portal from day one, and you can move to the direct API connection once it has been scoped with your developers. Your account manager coordinates the change so prescriptions keep reaching us throughout.

7. Confirm licensure for every state you serve

A single connection only helps if the pharmacy behind it can ship to all of your patients. Check the pharmacy's licensure against the states you serve before you build anything. ProCompounding is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and our 50-state licensure checklist shows how to verify any pharmacy's licenses yourself.

What stays the same when orders arrive by API

The route changes; the pharmacy work does not. A prescription that arrives through the API is reviewed by a pharmacist in the same way as one that arrives by e-prescribing. Every prescription is prepared for a named patient, at the strength the prescriber writes, before it is packed and shipped. We prepare non-sterile preparations following USP 795, and USP 800 for hazardous drugs, and we have a 48-hour compounding time on most preparations. Shipping time is additional.

Common questions

Do we need an API connection to work with you?

No. Prescribers can send prescriptions by e-prescribing or through our provider portal. Most clinics we speak with send orders from their own platform through a direct API connection, and you can start with e-prescribing or the portal while the API is scoped.

What should we bring to a technical scoping call?

Your platform details, the data your platform holds for each order, what you need to see coming back, your formulary list and your expected volume. The fields, update behavior and implementation plan are then confirmed for your specific program.

Who is our contact during the integration?

A dedicated account manager, introduced during onboarding, who works with your operations team through go-live and after it. Technical details are worked out with your developers during scoping.

Can we put our own branding on the patient experience?

Yes. We offer full white-label fulfillment, with partner-branded packaging, labels and marketing inserts. Our white label pharmacy fulfillment page covers the details.

Working with ProCompounding

Our pharmacy API integrations page sets out the connection options in more detail, and our telehealth pharmacy fulfillment page shows how prescriptions move from your platform to the patient's door. When your team is ready, start clinic onboarding and tell us about your program.

This article is general information for clinics and is not medical advice. Compounded preparations are not reviewed or approved by the FDA for safety or efficacy.