Home health care: payment and growth

As institutional health care providers attempt to limit their expenditures on patients in the face of payment restrictions, home health care is becoming an increasingly attractive and heavily utilized alternative to institutional care. Home health care can be cost-effective, yielding results comparable to the less intensive phases of traditional inpatient care. In many cases, the home is a more desirable setting for patients, with the psychological benefits of familiar, nonthreatening surroundings enhancing convalescence.