Resolution, access, and waiting time for specialties in different models of care

Bibliographic Data

ID16780397
AuthorsNatália Leite Rosa Mori (0000-0002-2022-0292, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)), Jaime Olbrich Neto (0000-0002-8804-1530, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)), Regina Stella Spagnuolo (0000-0002-6977-4165, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)), Carmen Maria Casquel Monti Juliani (0000-0002-3734-2317, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp))
Year2020
Volume54
Pages18
Publication date2020-01-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRevista de Saúde Pública (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-8910 • E-ISSN: 0034-8910
PublisherUniversidade de São Paulo. Agência de Bibliotecas e Coleções Digitais (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.11606/s1518-8787.2020054001627
PMID32022146
OpenAlexW3003255948
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited6

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the treatment demands coming from primary health care units and, based on that, the demand for referrals to medical specialties in reference services. This study is justified by the scarcity of scientific literature on the subject. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using secondary data on the treatments and referrals made by the primary health care units, throughout 2014, in a municipality of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The total population treated in 2014 was considered, resulting in 411,177 treatments. RESULTS: Out of all treatments performed, the percentage of referrals was of 4.42%, showing that 95,58% of the problems did not need to be referred to another service. A number of 8,897 referrals were made, to 6,850 users, who were mostly women (60.74%). The mean of referrals per patient was 1.3 (min. 1 and max. 8), and 1,604 patients (23.5%) were referred at least twice. CONCLUSIONS: Primary health care services have been responsible for a large number of treatments, whereas the demand for referrals has decreased, suggesting that such services have established themselves as a gateway to the health system and achieved the expected solvability, although the waiting time for some specialties is very long

Business · Cross-sectional study · Environmental health · Family medicine · Health care · Health services · Medical emergency · Population · Primary care · Primary health care · Referral · Scarcity · Service (business) · Health, Nursing, Elderly Care · Healthcare Systems and Technology · Medicine · Public Health in Brazil