[Home hospitalization: background, current situation, and future prospects]

To establish the different forms that the concept of home care has taken over time as a modality for providing health care, so as to contribute to the debate on the circumstances affecting health care management in the face of future challenges.

The literature is reviewed on home care as a method for delivering health care, by researching publications indexed during the period of 1995-2000 in three medical bibliographical databases: MEDLINE, LILACS (Latin American and Caribean Health Sciences) and the Indice Médico Español (Spanish Medical Index).

Home hospitalization has developed differently over time in various countries, with an assortment of models for this type of care, each with its respective advantages and disadvantages.

There are some criteria and proposals that could provide a framework for home care that is innovative, effective, and of high quality. Home care could help in the design and creation of a consensus on an organizational and financing model that fits in harmoniously between primary care and care in a hospital.