Retrospective evaluation of an intervention bundle on OPAT implementation in a large non-university hospital

Optimization of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) requires interdisciplinarity and an operational algorithm. This report retrospectively assesses the impact of a multimodal quality-enhancement intervention bundle on the implementation rate, efficacy, and safety of a home OPAT program in a Belgian large community-based hospital.

OPAT recipients between 1 March 2019 and 30 June 2022 were included. The OPAT trajectories were divided into pre-intervention (from 1 March 2019 to 31 October 2020) and post-intervention (from 1 November 2020 to 30 June 2022) groups. The quality-enhancement intervention bundle consisted of the involvement of an infectious disease specialist, revision and implementation of a state-of-the-art prosthetic joint infection diagnosis and treatment protocol, weekly multidisciplinary discussion of all prosthetic joint infections, revision of the OPAT algorithm, and the introduction of teicoplanin as an OPAT-convenient antimicrobial.

Eighty-five patients were included in a total of 96 OPAT trajectories (n = 33 pre-intervention; n = 63 post-intervention). After the intervention, the number of OPAT trajectories nearly doubled. The number of patients with a recurrent infection within 6 months after OPAT completion decreased 15%. The overall 6-month mortality and readmission rates during OPAT treatment decreased 8% and 10%, respectively. Mortality during OPAT treatment did not change. These differences between pre- and post-intervention did not achieve statistical significance, despite the higher risk for complications in the post-intervention group because of increased infection complexity and required treatment duration.

Within a Belgian, single, large community-based hospital, a multimodal intervention bundle resulted in increases in OPAT implementation, infection complexity, and required treatment durations without statistically significant differences in outcomes.