Home care in the 1990s. Council on Scientific Affairs.

Home care is a rapidly growing field that is beginning to attract greater physician interest and participation. Cost-containment pressures have led to reduced institutionalization in hospitals and nursing homes and to more patients, both acutely and chronically ill, being cared for in their own homes. Undergraduate and graduate medical education programs are developing home care curricula, and academic medicine is beginning to develop a research agenda, particularly in the area of clinical outcome measurements. Medical care in the home is highly diversified and innovative. The areas of preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, and long-term maintenance care are all well represented as physicians develop new practice patterns in home care.