Home telecare in the United States

Abstract

Telecare has the potential to extend home-care services normally delivered by conventional means. In the USA, government reductions in health-care financing have been matched by a growing interest, on the part of commercial health-care insurers, in cost reductions and cost-effective care planning. This review identifies emerging trends in home care. Several telecare demonstration projects have been undertaken with patients with coronary heart disease and HIV AIDS. These projects have attempted to develop new methods of providing cost-effective care for a growing patient population with chronic disease.