A comprehensive assessment of post-discharge antibiotic use across an integrated healthcare system.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Antibiotics prescribed at hospital discharge are difficult to capture electronically for surveillance purposes unless patients are discharged to home with oral antibiotics. Our goal was to estimate the proportion of post-discharge antibiotics that are administered either in post-acute care facilities or via outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) programs among patients discharged from Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals.

Design

We performed a retrospective study of all acute-care VHA admissions discharged during 2018-2021. The primary outcome was post-discharge antibiotic length of therapy, defined as the number of days of antibiotic exposure prescribed or recommended by inpatient providers at hospital discharge. Data on post-discharge antibioti

SUBMITTER: Livorsi DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12620061 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature