Abstract
The title of this chapter embraces a large number of medical, social, administrative and economic issues so that, in the space available, no more can be done than introduce some of the important topics and provide the basis for more detailed planning of specific applications. The problem of maintaining long-term contact with patients is not a new one. In 1916, writing a report on the natural history of retinal changes in arteriosclerosis, R. F. Q. Moore1 commented: ‘The difficulty of keeping in touch with patients owing to their migratory habits is notorious… I have always from the first observed the precaution of taking in addition to the patient’s address… the address of one or more of their relatives.’ A statement which epitomizes the difficulties which professional health workers continue to experience in their attempts to maintain contact with patients over long periods—including the entire life span of some individuals. The register is one device which has been used to achieve this particular objective within the framework of a health service which aims to provide continuous and comprehensive health care.
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© 1977 The Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism
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Hedley, A.J. (1977). Computerized central registers. In: Raine, D.N. (eds) Medico-Social Management of Inherited Metabolic Disease. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6173-2_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6173-2_15
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