Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT)
About OPAT
Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is a way for patients to receive long-term intravenous (IV) antibiotics at home or another outpatient setting. Before OPAT was introduced in the 1970s, patients had to stay in the hospital to get treatments.
Although it is used for many different types of infections, some of the most common infections treated with OPAT include:
- Bacteremia (blood infection)
- Bone and joint infections
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Infective endocarditis (infection of the heart valves)
OPAT at UNM SRMC
At UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center, our OPAT clinic offers a multidisciplinary approach for providing individualized treatment plans for patients requiring long-term IV antibiotic therapy. Our team closely monitors the treatment of patients who are receiving their IV treatments at home (through self-administration or with the assistance of a nurse or caregiver) or in another outpatient setting. Our patients are seen once a week to assess the effectiveness of the treatment and to identify any side effects from the therapies.
In the near future we will be opening our IV Infusion Clinic, which will allow us to administer IV antibiotic therapies on-site in addition to monitoring the treatment of patients who are taking their IV antibiotics outside of the clinic.
Making an Appointment
An appointment at the OPAT clinic requires a referral. If you have a referral, please call 505-994-7397. The OPAT clinic is open Tuesday afternoons.
For your appointment please remember to bring a complete list of all current medications and known allergies.
If you are a referring provider, please send previous records—especially all culture data and previous antimicrobial treatments—with your patient’s referral.