University Of São Paulo Study Finds Investments In Telehealth Can Reduce Waiting Times For Medical Care
The Ministry of Health intends to launch, in 2024, a notice to expand the telehealth centers in the Unified Health System (SUS). There will be an effort to reactivate the network in the country, both to guarantee access and for health management. Centers dedicated to service and research began to be installed in 2004 in various parts of the country, totaling 61 centers. Today, due to funding reductions, between ten and 15 centers are operating across the country.
“The telehealth centers are very important, they combine academic knowledge with the relationship between what we call primary care and the specialists”, comments Marília Louvison, professor at the Department of Policy, Management and Health at the Faculdade de Saúde Pública da USP. In addition, “it brings this specialist closer to primary care and, together with all the support from specialists at the university, to be able to provide advice, give a second opinion to improve the quality of care”.
According to Marília, the centers shorten the distance and reduce the displacement of patients. “I will have a specialist there who can talk to you, can do everything you have to do for you to prepare, for example, for a surgery and you can go straight to the surgery, make only one trip.” Investment in telehealth could also reduce queues, according to the professor.
lack of policies
The nuclei that currently exist suffer from a lack of regulation. “Of those who stayed, many continue to work with difficulty because they don’t have a concrete policy for investment and articulation between them, but they have a lot of expertise, they have a lot of accumulated experience.” During the covid-19 pandemic, for example, telehealth proved to be efficient and the experiences obtained point out that the initiative has a future. “There were places where you could get ventilator equipment for an ICU, but there was some kind of assistance at a distance from large centers to be able to help in the management of these patients. And it was key in some places.” Policies like this should be designed in partnership with universities, SUS managers, municipal and state departments. “Mapping the needs, mapping resources to invest and bringing together those who are already doing it are strategies for implementing a policy. And also listen to people, what we need”, defends Marília.
Possibilities
Once the policy is put into practice, the possibilities for service and integration will be multiple and will be able to meet specific needs. “There are several ways to do this. Let’s do it at your house, you go to the basic unit and talk to a specialist who is there in the big center, you make an appointment with a doctor, with the family health team. It is possible to make several arrangements, if we have this active intermediation”, considers the teacher.