The growth of the programs that offer intravenous (IV) infusion therapy outside the hospital setting reflects dramatic progress in clinical, pharmaceutical, and technological research. The resulting development of new drugs and IV infusion devices led to improvements in the delivery of outpatient care and in patient satisfaction. The current emphasis on cost control and managed care has also created a powerful impetus to move, or keep some patients out of high-cost hospital beds for therapeutic interventions traditionally delivered in hospitals. The term outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is used to describe therapy with an intravenous antimicrobial that is given on at least two different days without intervening hospitalization.

Outpatient antimicrobial therapy for infectious diseases was first described in the United States in 1974 and has grown into an industry that generates revenues of more than a billion dollars annually.

Reference:
Handbook of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy For Infectious Diseases, Alan D. Tice, MD, CRG Publishing 2006

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