746. Improving Monitoring of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) for Solid Tumor Patients at a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Abstract

BackgroundIncreasing rates of antimicrobial resistance require more frequent parenteral antimicrobial therapy. OPAT improves patient quality of life and is cost-effective. Although IDSA OPAT guidelines are applied to cancer patients, few studies have addressed implementation in this unique population. Through our quality improvement project, we aimed to improve monitoring of solid tumor patients recommended for OPAT by infectious diseases (ID) consultation as measured by an increased percentage of patients with physician follow-up and laboratory monitoring.MethodsWe used the plan-do-study-act methodology to guide our quality improvement project. To establish baseline frequencies, we retrospectively reviewed a subset of solid tumor patients seen for ID consultation and recommended for OPAT. We used brainstorming, fishbone analysis, and process mapping to analyze our current process. We standardized a sign-off note for inclusion with OPAT recommendations within our electronic medical record. We reminded ID providers of the new process weekly and to notify the OPAT team and outpatient clinical nursing staff of OPAT-enrolled patients.ResultsWe found that clarifying recommendations addressed several identified obstacles to monitoring. After instituting our intervention, the percentage of patients who completed follow-up increased from 44% to 78% during the 6-week intervention period. Although the frequency of laboratory monitoring recommendations increased from 43% to 86%, the percentage of patients completing such monitoring did not improve. Our results were sustainable during the 3-month post-intervention observation period.ConclusionBy standardizing ID recommendations, we increased outpatient follow-up frequency. Our inability to increase the frequency of laboratory monitoring likely reflects the increased complexity of the process, which requires action from external stakeholders. We learned that a simple intervention can have a meaningful impact and that gains can be limited without involvement of all stakeholders. We plan to expand to a comprehensive OPAT clinic for all patients at our facility and further characterize challenges and opportunities for utilizing OPAT in cancer patients. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.