Competent initial assessment, not the number of quality indicators reported, predicts OPAT readmission risk, scoping review finds

A scoping review of 18 studies covering 5,027 patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) found that readmission risk correlated with whether a competent team member performed the patient’s initial assessment — not with how many quality indicators a service reported Synthesis (Musuuza et al.1). The review also found social workers (28%) and hospitalists (11%) markedly under-represented on OPAT multidisciplinary teams relative to infectious disease physicians, nurses and pharmacists. The median OPAT readmission rate across included studies was 11.3%.

As a scoping review, it maps and characterises the existing literature rather than testing an intervention directly; the correlation between assessment competence and readmission is observational, drawn across heterogeneous services, and should not be read as a controlled comparison. Whether adding social-work capacity to OPAT multidisciplinary teams improves outcomes was flagged as an open question by the review and remains untested.

For OPAT services auditing readmission risk, the review points to initial-assessment competence and multidisciplinary team composition — rather than quality-indicator reporting volume — as the more consequential levers.