German Register of Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy

Implementation of OPAT in Germany

Many infectious diseases require a therapy that is administered intravenously due to a lack of oral treatments. Affected patients often have to stay weeks or even months in hospital just for receiving their therapy although they do not feel severely unwell. Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) allows these patients under certain requirements to get discharged from hospital and apply the antibiotic treatment on their own. For these patients quality of life improves by feeling more comfortable at home and being able to participate in everyday life or even go back to work. For the hospitals a reduced inpatient health care means a clear reduction of costs. The aim of OPATReg is to examine under which conditions the OPAT can be established at different locations of patient care. For this purpose, patients with APAT are to be treated and data collected at 7 university institutions in Germany. All centers have the expertise to provide comprehensive care for patients with infectious diseases, to transfer them from inpatient to outpatient care and to continue to provide care there. If successful, the project should help to identify the potential of OPAT for all of Germany. If positive effects and feasibility can be demonstrated OPAT could become an important therapy option with many advantages for certain patients.

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Germany