Intravenous to Oral Switch: Within Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (IVOST)

The use of intravenous antimicrobials and complex oral antimicrobial regimes within outpatient clinical environments is helping with non-admission to and early discharge from hospital. The course will lead you through the principles underlying these therapies, how to determine their suitability, and key practices for prescribers.

This course -by experts from the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy- is for healthcare workers who prescribe and administer antibiotics. It explores the benefits and barriers of IVOST and complex oral antimicrobial therapy in the context of an OPAT service.

• The principles of Intravenous to Oral Antibiotic Switch Therapy (IVOST) within the Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) setting; principles will apply to inpatient care too, but this will not be the focus
• How oral and complex oral antibiotics can be used in an Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) setting and the evolving entity of Complex (Outpatient) Oral and Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (COPAT) services
• The key practice points for OPAT-based prescribers (e.g. route, choice, duration, recording of information)
• When IVOST and/or complex oral antibiotic therapy is appropriate, and understand the benefits of early IVOST/complex oral antibiotic therapy and key considerations that determine implementation of both in OPAT settings