Home infusion, a process in which IV drug therapy previously administered only in a hospital setting is now being done at home, is a rapidly growing area health-care practice that reduces the time many patients spend in the hospital.

There are two companies in Cape Girardeau providing home infusion services, both operating as a specialized pharmacy.

Option Care, which began business in 1987, is owned by Jeff Bierman. IV Care, opened in 1989, is owned by Randy Morse.

Both Bierman and Morse are licensed pharmacists.

Physicians prescribe intravenous medication to patients who will be at home, and the two companies mix the drugs and have them delivered by nurses. The nurses also teach patients and family members how to administer the therapy.

Option Care and IV Care also work closely with home health care agencies that make regular visits to patients in their homes.

A trend in the health care industry today is to get patients out of the hospital as soon as possible. Being able to provide home infusion makes it easier for patients to be treated at home.

"There is a big movement to get patients out of the hospital where it is more cost effective to do these things in the home," said Morse.

"The whole advantage of home infusion is convenience," added Bierman.

"What differentiates us from a home health agency is we have the ability to dispense drugs in the home as a state licensed pharmacy," Bierman explained. "We cannot do anything without a physician's order."

In some cases, patients are able to receive infusions while attending school or going to work.

Once technology was developed to administer IV treatments by pump rather than gravity drip it became possible to provide the drugs outside a hospital setting.

Both Morse and Bierman point out that the move toward home infusions has been an educational process in which physicians and patients learn that this is a reliable method of treatment.

Over the last two years, the trend toward home infusion has increased dramatically.

Bierman said it is becoming more acceptable because everyone is starting to understand that the treatments are safe and effective.

"There was a time where when you got sick you went to the hospital, but that is not so any more," said Morse.

Because it is considerably cheaper to treat patients at home instead of the hospital, insurance companies are starting to require more home care. In parts of the country where managed care is available, the trend toward home care is even greater.

Morse noted that overall savings can be as high as 40-70 percent by treating patients at home instead of the hospital.

The Bureau of Data Management and Strategy/Health Care Finance Administration found that the average cost per day for hospitalization in Missouri was $1,446 in 1992. The average cost of home infusion is $125 a day.

Both companies serve an approximate 60-mile radius from Cape Girardeau.

In addition to home infusion, Option Care and IV Care also install systems that enable patients requiring constant monitoring to remain at home and be monitored by local hospital staff.

Home uterine monitoring is one of the most common uses and is an effort to delay a patient from going into premature labor.

Morse and Bierman both agree that the trend for the immediate future will continue to be getting patients out of the hospital and in their homes as fast as possible.

Studies have shown that patients and families often have less stress when treated at home, and that patients often recover faster.