title: Outpatient treatment in the University Hospital Utrecht: organization and infrastructure.
abstract: Interest in home care for patients with serious infections is increasing. Home care technology needs reliable equipment that can be operated by the patient without constant supervision. To achieve long-term home treatment requires the establishment of protocols, education programmes, patient support and easy hospital admission. In the present study 185 patients, with cancer or a variety of infections, were treated at home over a 2-year period. Nineteen patients who had to receive antimicrobial agents were educated for self-administration and could contact a health professional with any problems. No serious complications due to home treatment with parenteral medication were observed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Witteveen