OBJECTIVESTo investigate the needs and characteristics of patients with cancer and neurologic disorders requiring home-based medical care (HBMC).DESIGNRetrospective observational study.SETTING AND PARTICIPANTSPatients receiving HBMC on discharge from a tertiary hospital in Korea during 2011-2020.METHODSPatients were classified into 3 disease groups: cancer, progressive neurologic disorders (NR), and others. Characteristics and medical needs were assessed in each disease group. Medical needs were categorized based on functional items requiring support or management at the time of registration: respiratory, feeding, urinary system, drain tube, central catheter, wound, medication, and other. Patients with multiple medical needs were assigned to multiple categories. Patients who used HBMC for more than 3 months were defined as long-term users; their characteristics were evaluated in the same way.RESULTSOf the total 655 patients, 47.0% (308) had cancer and 17.3% (113) were NR patients. Among all patients, 78.8% were partially dependent (44.0%) or completely dependent (34.8%) in daily activities, and there were more dependent patients in the NR group (80.5%) than cancer (26.6%). Patients with cancer needed central catheter management the most (43.5%), followed by wound care (36.7%), feeding support (35.1%), and drain tube management (22.1%). NR patients required feeding support the most (80.5%), followed by respiratory support (43.4%), wound care (41.6%), and urinary system support (19.5%). Of all patients, 30.2% (198) were long-term users (NR, 37.9%; cancer, 35.4%). Long-term users were common among patients who needed respiratory support (59.4%), feeding support (48.75), and urinary system support (34.6%).CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSHomebound patients with cancer and progressive neurologic disorders need medical services at home after discharge. Patients who need feeding and respiratory support usually use HBMC for more than 3 months. Further studies are needed to design an optimal HBMC that continuously provides medical services to patients with serious illnesses living at home.