Follow-up Appointment Adherence of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) Patients

BACKGROUND: Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) is a safe and effective care delivery system that allows patients to receive intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy outside of the hospital. OPAT patients require frequent follow-up appointments for clinical and laboratory monitoring of common adverse outcomes of any IV antibiotic administration such as line infections, adverse drug events, and reinfection. Despite the known importance of clinical monitoring, patient factors that influence adherence to OPAT appointments are unknown. The objective of this study was to identify factors that influence adherence to OPAT appointments, in order to improve the OPAT program and make adherence easier for patients if possible. METHODS: 80 patients undergoing OPAT between December 2014 and January 2016 were interviewed via telephone regarding the following: reasons for not showing up to appointments, when the first follow up appointment was scheduled, whether they received appointment reminders, transit time, and whether they had to make special arrangements to attend their appointments. RESULTS: Adherence to follow-up appointments was high (83.8%). 52.5% of initial follow-up appointments were made while patients were still in the hospital. 92% of patients received at least one reminder in the form of a letter (32%), call to cell phone (21%), call to landline (22%), email (17%), or other (1%). Participants mostly cited either transportation (23.4%) or other (30.4%), specifically not feeling well, and work as the reason for missing an appointment. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients attended all appointments, and of those, almost all received an appointment reminder, suggesting this is an important factor contributing to appointment adherence. These data reveal some of the barriers some patients face. Future studies can examine whether decreased appointment adherence leads to worse clinical outcomes. DISCLOSURES: G. Allison, Merck: Grant Investigator and Speaker’s Bureau, Grant recipient and Salary