Home Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy programme, 1999

Objectives: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and safety of the Home Intra venous Antibiotic Therapy (I-II;IT) program in the district of Haifa and We stern Galilee in Northern Israel, Methods: We checked all the medical records of all the patients who had bee n treated at home with intravenous antibiotics during 1999, We reviewed the mean clinical diagnosis, aetiological agent, type of antibiotic given, com plications and cost evaluation. Results: During 1999, 250 patients received 284 courses of HIAT. The total duration of treatments was 3405 days; 61% of the patients were referred fro m clinical departments from one of the medical centres in our area, Soft-ti ssue infections and osteomyelitis were the most common clinical diagnoses a t 40%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most frequent pathogen presented and Ceftazidine the most common antimicrobial agent prescribed, The HIAT progra m saved $815 000 during 1999, Only minor complications were present, Conclusions: HIAT is effective, safe, comfortable for the patients, and has an important economical impact, (C) 2001 The British Infection Society.