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