For many reasons -- including the rising cost of health care and aging of the U.S. population -- health care is increasingly moving from formal medical facilities into patients' homes.
A wide range of procedures and therapies are now carried out far from any hospital or clinic, often with no health care professional on site.
HEALTH CARE COMES HOME: THE HUMAN FACTORS, a new report from the National Research Council, recommends steps the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other agencies and groups can take to ensure that the medical devices used in home care are easy and safe to use and that caregivers are well-trained.
Source: National Academy of Sciences