The Impact of COVID-19 on Outpatient Intravenous Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) at an Academic Medical Center

ABSTRACT

Background. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic dramatically affected the delivery of healthcare. Patients discharged on outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) require clinic follow-up and laboratory monitoring which is a logistical challenge to standardize across discharge locations. We sought to investigate how COVID-19 impacted patients discharged with OPAT at an academic medical center. Primary objectives included 30-day readmission rates and ID clinic follow-up before and during COVID-19. Secondary outcomes included whether suspected infection type, antimicrobial selection and discharge location differed between the two cohorts. Baseline Patient Characteristics & Outcomes between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 cohorts Methods. Patients discharged on OPAT were evaluated in two 3-month cohorts from Oct-Dec 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and compared to Oct-Dec 2020 (COVID)-19. Demographics, infection type, discharge location, therapy characteristics, and outcomes were compared retrospectively (Fig 1). Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-Sum test with p< 0.05 considered statistically significant. Suspected Infectious Source among the two cohorts Results. A total of 316 pre-COVID patients were discharged with OPAT compared to 263 COVID-19 patients. Table 1 shows the comparison of OPAT characteristics between 2019 and 2020. There were significantly more patients discharged home and fewer patients discharged to facilities in COVID-19 group(p=0.001 and p=0.011, respectively). LOS, ID clinic follow-up, and 30-day readmission did not differ between groups. Reasons for readmission were similar (Fig 1). Antimicrobial prescribing was generally similar except for more vancomycin prescribed in the COVID-19 group (12.5% versus 7.3%, p=0.033). Suspected source of infection did not differ between groups (Fig 2), nor did isolation of pseudomonas, MRSA, or drug resistant organisms (Table 2). Conclusion. Sources of infection and antimicrobial classes were generally similar despite decrease in elective procedures during a COVID-19 related winter surge. Rates of readmission and clinic follow did not differ, however, patients discharged with OPAT post-COVID were more likely to go home versus a facility. Further analysis of this difference may help determine best practices to facilitate improved monitoring and clinic follow-up among OPAT patients.