KEY ISSUES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-INPATIENT INTRAVENOUS (NIPIV) ANTIBIOTIC-THERAPY PROGRAM - A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

In the United States provision of home or outpatient intravenous antim icrobial therapy is now a multi-billion dollar growth industry with a well developed organizational infra-structure for delivering a high-qu ality service. In Europe and in the UK health service providers are in creasingly looking at delivering such 'high tech' services within the community as part of their philosophy of keeping more patients in the community. Unfortunately, despite the obvious advantages to the patien t and the potential economic gain, experience in the UK and Europe is limited to a few clinical enthusiasts functioning without clear-cut na tional guidelines regarding development, implementation and funding of such programmes. This article reviews some of the key issues regardin g this in the hope that it acts as a stimulus for clinicians, managers , pharmacists and health-care planners to devise a comprehensive strat egy for the next decade.