Outpatient antibiotic therapy (OPAT)

Sara Keller, M.D.

DEFINITION

OPAT: defined as the use of parenteral antibiotics outside of the acute care setting.
Infusions can be administered in and by:
- Skilled nursing facility staff members
- Outpatient infusion centers by nurses
- In the home by patient and/or family with support from home nursing professionals available
  - Typically, home nurses perform education on the first initiation of home-based OPAT and then return to the home weekly for assessments, laboratory test draws, and venous catheter dressing changes.
- In the home by home nursing professionals (unusual in the U.S.)
- In the home by patient and family without support from home nursing professionals
  - Patients return to a clinic weekly for assessment and medication distribution.

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