Pharmacist involvement in OPAT teams cuts prescribing errors, meta-analysis finds

A PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis (10 studies drawn from 918 screened) examined the role of pharmacists in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) multidisciplinary teams [Meta-analysis]. Pharmacist involvement increased adherence to therapeutic drug monitoring and dose-adjustment protocols by 40–64%, and reduced prescribing errors by 17–22%. Impact on readmission rates was inconsistent across studies, and all included studies were assessed as carrying a high risk of bias.

The meta-analysis draws together the available comparative literature on this question, but the explicit high risk of bias across all ten included studies is a material limitation: the safety-monitoring findings should be read as suggestive rather than definitive, and the inconsistent readmission finding should not be read as either a positive or negative result.

This evidence is relevant to whether a dedicated OPAT pharmacist role would strengthen safety monitoring for OPAT caseloads, particularly where therapeutic drug monitoring and dose adjustment are frequent requirements — though the underlying evidence base’s risk-of-bias limitations mean this should inform rather than settle any workforce decision.