Home telecare in the United States.

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.