Avoiding hospital admission? Here’s how to access mobile IV treatment with OPAT

MANILA, Philippines — For the lack of hospital beds during the pandemic, Filipinos learned that intravenous therapy (IV) can be administered at home.

When Melissa Macadaeg's father had to be "confined at home," they didn't want to buy an IV pole, which they would only use for seven days, so they hung the IV on the door. They also hired a nurse to regularly insert the IV and ensure that the medicine was administered on time. It was a challenging and expensive experience, but thankfully, her dad got better.

A few years passed, and this time, it was her mother, Norma, 74, who needed to be confined. Oral antibiotics alone couldn't cure her UTI, and she required IV administration at the hospital.

Fortunately, they were referred to OPAT.PH at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong, and they have never returned to the hospital for IV antibiotic treatment.

"I saw the convenience of choosing OPAT.PH—my mother wasn't exposed to hospital germs, and we saved around 50% on hospital expenses. Mom can move around freely, stress-free," Macadaeg shared in an exclusive interview with philstar.com.

"I'm an engineer, so I had no idea how to insert the IV pumps, but I learned it was easy," she added, referring to the single-use elastomeric pumps that contained individual dosages of antibiotics. Best of all, they didn't need to hang the IV pumps, and there's no backflow, so the patient could freely engage in her daily activities, even outside the house.

Parenteral antibiotic treatments involve delivering antibiotics directly into the bloodstream through intravenous injection, typically done using a needle cannula. While milder infections can be treated with oral antibiotics, severe infections or those caused by drug-resistant organisms often require intravenous administration for a more effective outcome.

Traditionally, patients would stay in the hospital for weeks, but outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT) can be received by patients in clinics or in the comfort of their homes.

In the Philippines, this revolutionary healthcare service is now available through OPAT.PH.

Under the leadership of Infectious Diseases Specialist, Dr. Ryan Llorin, and Medical Affairs Director, Dr.