title: [Patient follow up and monitoring: some notes of interest].
abstract: The monitoring or follow-up of a person subjected to a health care intervention is a daily routine nursing activity. In the chronic patient the monitoring or follow-up is a core activity and forms a part of the ritual in the periodic visits. In spite of the high percentage workload and use of resources that patient follow up represents within the health system, it is a poorly investigated area. In the present article we examine the differences between a test versus a monitoring strategy, the conditions that justify the monitoring, the methodology to evaluate a follow-up strategy,, as well as creating initiatives to improve monitoring (MaDOx) worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Centre for Monitoring and Diagnosis (MaDOx), Division of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Oxford, Oxford, Reino Unido. josep.garcia-alamino@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: García-Alamino
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perera
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards