{"id":4061,"date":"2022-05-09T16:32:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T20:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/infdis\/patient-care\/opat\/"},"modified":"2024-10-30T13:40:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T17:40:18","slug":"opat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/infdis\/patient-care\/opat\/","title":{"rendered":"Antimicrobial Stewardship and OPAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (CASP) and the Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy Program (OPAT) began in 2016 as joint programs of the UNC Medical Center Department of Pharmacy and the Divisions of Adult and Pediatric Infectious Diseases.<\/p>\n

OPAT<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Dr. Mary Catherine Bowman, OPAT Medical Director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UNC\u2019s Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) program lets patients receive IV antibiotics outside the hospital in a home setting. This approach shortens or avoids hospital stays, enhances recovery, and provides high-quality, continuous care.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

With personalized treatment plans and regular monitoring and collaboration with Infectious Diseases providers, OPAT allows patients to get optimal care they need in a comfortable setting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Dr. Nick Mavrogiorgos<\/a>, CASP Medical Director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Antimicrobials are drugs that kill or prevent the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. Antimicrobials can be life-saving therapies for patients with serious infections. For patients who do not have infections, antimicrobials increase the likelihood of patient harm and antimicrobial resistance.<\/p>\n

Stewardship means carefully managing a valuable, limited resource. Antimicrobials are one such resource. The goal of antimicrobial stewardship is to optimize treatment for the best possible patient outcomes while also working to preserve the usefulness of these drugs in modern medicine. Antimicrobial stewardship programs, including the Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at UNC Medical Center, help ensure patients with infections get the right diagnosis, the right drug, at the right dose, for the right duration.<\/p>\n

Antimicrobial stewardship helps patients.<\/p>\n

Doctors, pharmacists, and others work behind the scenes with care teams on:<\/p>\n