Abstract:
Objective: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programs continue to evolve with increases in multidisciplinary teams, complex oral antibiotics, long-acting injectable antimicrobials, patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and telehealth. We sought to examine how OPAT programs are currently structured and identify barriers to safe care.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Participants: Physician, pharmacist, and advanced practice providers (APP) Emerging Infections Network (EIN) members.
Methods: A survey was conducted between February and March 2025 to assess OPAT structure, expansion to complex outpatient antimicrobial therapy (COpAT), and barriers to safe OPAT care.
Results: Of 1639 EIN members, 622 (38%) responded; 75% reported an active role in OPAT. Oversight of patients on COpAT was reported by 59%, and mandatory ID consultation for OPAT by 59%. Eighty-one percent reported >75% of OPAT patients were followed by ID. Most patients received OPAT at home (78%) followed by post-acute care facilities. Outpatient and inpatient ID physicians were responsible for laboratory test monitoring (75% and 30% respectively), while 37% reported a multidisciplinary OPAT team and 32% reported non-specialists. Respondents cited inadequate support in data analysis, administration, information technology and financial support for clinical staff. Common challenges were lack of leadership awareness (51%), difficulty managing patients with SUD (50%) and timely access to laboratory test results (48%).
Conclusions: ID physicians were commonly involved in OPAT care, with many programs expanding to COpAT. Several barriers to the safe delivery of OPAT remain, including lack of institutional support, reimbursement and poor communication between stakeholders.
Reference:Castellino LM, Rivera CG, Beekmann SE, Polgreen PM, Mahoney MM, Keller SC. Management of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy: a United States-based multi-center survey. Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2026 Apr 17;6(1):e109. doi: 10.1017/ash.2026.10347. PMID: 42038603; PMCID: PMC13104569.