What to verify behind a wholesale rate
If a vendor says it sells at wholesale, ask how you can confirm the number. With Promise Pharmacy, request an itemized account summary that separates the wholesale drug rate from shipping, cold-chain handling, and any processing fees. If the rate comes back as a single blended per-vial number, you cannot independently audit the components — not necessarily because the rate is inflated, but because it is unverifiable from your side. Also confirm whether volume tier discounts are reflected in the rate you see on day one or only after you hit unpublished thresholds.
The point is not to assume bad faith. In-house 503A compounding at volume can genuinely produce competitive wholesale economics. The point is structural: a model where drug cost and fee show separately on each cart line lets you confirm the math, while a portal-gated wholesale rate asks you to trust the account-manager conversation until your first invoice proves it out.