The average life expectancy in Portugal has grown, with a strong impact in the social structure of the country, promoting a change of the nationwide age groups.

In the face of these changes, we will have inevitably to change the paradigm of treating acute illness to a growing need for management of chronic disease in the age groups concerned.

This change of age groups is, admittedly, one of the factors of aggravation of health expenses over the past few decades.

The patient should be the main focus of any strategy or health service system and must have easy and fast access, anywhere to its clinical data.

An answer will, for sure, by primary health care and preventive medicine, requiring a new approach that can both improve the level of health care, enable greater rationalization of resources and greater involvement of clients in managing their own health.