Update and Overview of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Regulations and Reimbursement

Outpatient care, including outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), is increasingly seen by both clinicians and insurers as a safe, effective, and economical adjunct or alternative to hospitalization. Despite this, perhaps the least understood reimbursement and regulatory policies for health care services are those that apply to OPAT. We present a brief review and update of current rules and regulations relating to OPAT, with emphasis on areas of special interest to physicians serving as medical directors of home or ambulatory infusion programs or providing OPAT as an extension of their office practices.