Background: The cost of one Health Service Executive (HSE) hospital bed day is reported to be around €909. One of the strategies to improve cost-effectiveness and improve patient experience is the outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT). Preliminary reports showed that OPAT has a positive impact on patient satisfaction and experience nationally. The aim of this review is to assess the cost benefit of the OPAT service in the orthopedic department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
Methods: A retrospective review of the last 3 years of OPAT services within the orthopaedic department of Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda was performed. The time period spanned from 2013 to 2015.
Results: The service involved 38 individual patients. The intravenous (IV) drugs administered were: flucloxacillin, ceftriaxone, cefazolin, daptomycin, meropenem, teicoplanin, ertapenem, tazocin and vancomycin. The service has saved an estimated 510 hospital bed days equalling €460,000 (approx.) gross.
Conclusions: This review has shown that the OPAT has reduced hospital bed days significantly for the Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL). The recommendation is to encourage the use of OPAT where possible to continue this trend. However, to appreciate the true benefit of the service a full cost benefit analysis should be performed.
