Abstract

Increasingly, patients are able to receive parenteral medicines at home rather than in the hospital setting. We describe our approach to setting up a new intravenous zoledronic acid homecare service for patients with osteoporosis. Initial evaluation of service feasibility demonstrated a marginal cost saving of approximately 6%, when the drug is administered via homecare compared with hospital day-case unit. Rigorous risk assessment was conducted prior to service initiation. Implementation strategies are outlined. Surveys confirmed that the majority of patients were highly satisfied with the home infusion service.