Performance bonuses and the quality of primary health care delivered by family health teams in Brazil: A difference-in-differences analysis.

BACKGROUND: Pay-for-performance (P4P) programmes to incentivise health providers to improve quality of care have been widely implemented globally. Despite intuitive appeal, evidence on the effectiveness of P4P is mixed, potentially due to differences in how schemes are designed. We exploited municipality variation in the design features of Brazil's National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ) to examine whether performance bonuses given to family health team workers were associated with changes in the quality of care and whether the size of bonus mattered. METHODS AND FINDINGS: For this quasi-experimental study, we used a difference-in-differences approach combined with matching. We compared changes over time in the quality of care delivered by family health teams between (bonus) municipalities that chose to use some or all of the PMAQ money to provide performance-related bonuses to team workers with (nonbonus) municipalities that invested the funds using traditional input-based budgets. The primary outcome was the PMAQ score, a quality of care index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on several hundred indicators (ranging from 598 to 660) of health care delivery. We did one-to-one matching of bonus municipalities to nonbonus municipalities based on baseline demographic and economic characteristics. On the matched sample, we used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association of any bonus and size of bonus with the prepost change over time (between November 2011 and October 2015) in the PMAQ score. We performed subgroup analyses with respect to the local area income of the family health team. The matched analytical sample comprised 2,346 municipalities (1,173 nonbonus municipalities; 1,173 bonus municipalities), containing 10,275 family health teams that participated in PMAQ from the outset. Bonus municipalities were associated with a 4.6 (95% CI: 2.7 to 6.4; p < 0.001) percentage point increase in the PMAQ score compared with nonbonus municipalities. The association with quality of care increased with the size of bonus: the largest bonus group saw an improvement of 8.2 percentage points (95% CI: 6.2 to 10.2; p < 0.001) compared with the control. The subgroup analysis showed that the observed improvement in performance was most pronounced in the poorest two-fifths of localities. The limitations of the study include the potential for bias from unmeasured time-varying confounding and the fact that the PMAQ score has not been validated as a measure of quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: Performance bonuses to family health team workers compared with traditional input-based budgets were associated with an improvement in the quality of care.

Persistent, new-onset symptoms and mental health complaints in Long COVID in a Brazilian cohort of non-hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections lead to acute- and chronic Long COVID (LC) symptoms. However, few studies have addressed LC sequelae on brain functions. This study was aimed to examine if acute symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) would persist during LC, and if memory problems would be correlated with sleep, depressive mood, or anxious complaints. METHODS: Our work followed a cohort of 236 patients from two public hospitals of the Federal District in mid-western Brazil. Patients' interviews checked for clinical symptoms during acute and LC (5-8 months after real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, RT-qPCR). RESULTS: Most cases were non-hospitalized individuals (86.3%) with a median age of 41.2 years. While myalgia (50%), hyposmia (48.3%), and dysgeusia (45.8%) were prevalent symptoms in acute phase, fatigue (21.6%) followed by headache (19.1%) and myalgia (16.1%) commonly occurred during LC. In LC, 39.8% of individuals reported memory complaints, 36.9% felt anxious, 44.9% felt depressed, and 45.8% had sleep problems. Furthermore, memory complaints were associated with sleep problems (adjusted OR 3.206; 95% CI 1.723-6.030) and depressive feelings (adjusted OR 3.981; 95% CI 2.068-7.815). CONCLUSIONS: The SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to persistent symptoms during LC, in which memory problems may be associated with sleep and depressive complaints.

Challenges facing the More Doctors program (Programa Mais Médicos) in vulnerable and peri-urban areas in Greater Brasilia, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: A shortage of physicians, especially in vulnerable and peri-urban areas, is a global phenomenon that has serious implications for health systems, demanding policies to assure the provision and retention of health workers. The aim of this study was to analyze the strategies employed by the More Doctors Program (Programa Mais Médicos) to provide primary care physicians in vulnerable and peri-urban parts of Greater Brasilia. METHODS: The study used a qualitative approach based on the precepts of social constructivism. Forty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted: 24 with physicians employed as part of the More Doctors program, five with program medical supervisors, seven with secondary care physicians, twelve with primary care coordinators, and one federal administrator. The interviews occurred between March and September 2019. The transcripts of the interviews were submitted to thematic content analysis. RESULTS: The partnership between the Ministry of Health and local authorities was essential for the provision of doctors-especially foreign doctors, most from Cuba, to assist vulnerable population groups previously without access to the health system. There was a notable presence of doctors with experience working with socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, which was important for gaining a better understanding of the effects of the endemic urban violence in the region. The incentives and other institutional support, such as enhanced salaries, training, and housing, transportation, and food allowances, were factors that helped provide a satisfactory working environment. However, the poor state of the infrastructure at some of the primary care units and limitations of the health service as a whole were factors that hampered the provision of comprehensive care, constituting a cause of dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: More Doctors introduced a range of novel strategies that helped ensure a supply of primary care doctors in vulnerable and peri-urban parts of Greater Brasilia. The inclusion of foreign doctors, most from Cuba, was crucial for the success of the health services provided for the local communities, who subsist in violent and socioeconomically deprived urban areas. However, it became clear that barriers from within the health service itself hampered the physicians' capacity to provide a satisfactory service. As such, what is needed for primary care to be effective is not just the recruitment, training, and deployment of doctors, but also investment in the organization of the whole health system.

Analysis of work-related accidents and ill-health in Brazil since the introduction of the accident prevention factor.

BACKGROUND: Since 2004, Brazil has had a national policy for occupational health and safety. This policy means companies' tax burden is altered according to the numbers of work-related accidents and ill-health amongst their workers. In 2010, a multiplication factor was introduced to this policy, called the Accident Prevention Factor. The idea of this new multiplication factor is to encourage individual employers to take initiatives to prevent accidents and ill health in the workplace. This study was designed to investigate the incidence of work-related accidents and ill-health in Brazil according to their causes, their severity, and the economic activity in which they occur, and to compare the data before and after the introduction of the Accident Prevention Factor. METHODS: An ecological study was conducted by analyzing the time series of work-related accidents/ill-health between 2008 and 2014 from the Brazilian social security system (Previdência Social) statistical yearbooks. Incidences were calculated per cause, economic activity, and severity of the accident/ill-health. Data from before and after the introduction of the Accident Prevention Factor were compared using the Mann-Whitney test per cause and per economic activity. Statistical analyses were made using the SPSS software, with significance set at 5%. RESULTS: A reduction in the incidence of work-related accidents/ill-health was found across all the groups of causes analyzed, except for the groups "external causes of morbidity and mortality" and "factors influencing health status and contact with health services." Greater reductions were found for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue and diseases of the nervous system. Reductions in work-related accidents/ill-health were found in the different economic activities and in the different severity groups. The highest reduction after the introduction of the Accident Prevention Factor was in manufacturing and production (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the incidence of accidents/ill-health was found to be on decline, except those with external causes of morbidity and mortality and those involving factors influencing health status and contact with health services. The biggest reduction was found in manufacturing and production. However, generally speaking progress still needs to be made in accident prevention and occupational health across a whole range of work environments.

Computer assistive technology and associations with quality of life for individuals with spinal cord injury: a systematic review.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to identify and organize evidence regarding quality of life influenced by assistive technology related to computers for people with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). SETTING: Distrito Federal, Brazil. METHODS: A search strategy was conducted on the PubMed, PEDro, LILACS, PsycINFO, and SCIELO. All types of study designs considering assistive technology to improve quality of life for individuals with SCI were included. After search strategy procedures, ten references were included to review. The methodologic quality of each study was evaluated using the Level of Evidence proposed by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. RESULTS: Most of the studies showed that devices for computer access improve the quality of life of people with SCI, regardless of the level of injury and type of resource. However, the positive outcomes in the quality of life should be interpreted with caution, as several methodological limitations were observed in the articles. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the scarcity of studies and their methodological limitations, there is evidence that assistive technology for computer access favors the quality of life of people with tetraplegia due to SCI, since it improves participation, independence, and self-esteem.

Evaluation of the Responsiveness Index of the Family Health Strategy in rural areas. / Avaliação do Índice de Responsividade da Estratégia Saúde da Família da zona rural.

Objective To evaluate the responsiveness of Family Health Strategy units in the rural area of the Federal District registered in the National Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Basic Care. Method Descriptive study, which used a questionnaire to evaluate the following dimensions: a) respect for people: dignity, confidentiality of information, autonomy, communication; b) customer orientation: facilities, choice of the professional, agile service and social support. Results The users' assessment of responsiveness was 0.755. The dimensions related to respect for people received an index of 0.814 and customer orientation was 0.599. Conclusion Care is given that shows respect for human dignity, but progress needs to be made in building confidentiality and the autonomy of users. Infrastructure is poor and care is not agile, highlighting the need for greater investments in rural areas.

Implementation research: towards universal health coverage with more doctors in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a programme to provide primary care physicians for remote and deprived populations in Brazil. METHODS: The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) programme was launched in July 2013 with public calls to recruit physicians for priority areas. Other strategies were to increase primary care infrastructure investments and to provide more places at medical schools. We conducted a quasi-experimental, before-and-after evaluation of the implementation of the programme in 1708 municipalities with populations living in extreme poverty and in remote border areas. We compared physician density, primary care coverage and avoidable hospitalizations in municipalities enrolled (n = 1450) and not enrolled (n = 258) in the programme. Data extracted from health information systems and Ministry of Health publications were analysed. FINDINGS: By September 2015, 4917 physicians had been added to the 16 524 physicians already in place in municipalities with remote and deprived populations. The number of municipalities with ≥ 1.0 physician per 1000 inhabitants doubled from 163 in 2013 to 348 in 2015. Primary care coverage in enrolled municipalities (based on 3000 inhabitants per primary care team) increased from 77.9% in 2012 to 86.3% in 2015. Avoidable hospitalizations in enrolled municipalities decreased from 44.9% in 2012 to 41.2% in 2015, but remained unchanged in control municipalities. We also documented higher infrastructure investments in enrolled municipalities and an increase in the number of medical school places over the study period. CONCLUSION: Other countries having shortages of physicians could benefit from the lessons of Brazil's programme towards achieving universal right to health.

Social representations of health councilors regarding the right to health and citizenship. / Representações sociais de conselheiros de saúde acerca do direito à saúde e da cidadania.

OBJECTIVE: To know the structure of the social representations of right to health and citizenship of health municipal councilors. METHOD: This is a qualitative study, based on the central nucleus theory of social representations, carried out in eight municipalities of the Integrated Region for the Development of the Surroundings of the Federal District, Brazil. The intentional sample consisted of municipal health councilors. Between June and December 2012, free recall questionnaires were used, of which 68 were answered with the inducing term health, and 64 with the inducing term citizenship. Data were analyzed using EVOC software and Bardin's content analysis. RESULTS: The representational field of the right to health is associated with the idea of universal law guaranteed by the Constitution and the Unified Health System (SUS), and of citizenship linked to rights and duties. CONCLUSIONS: The conceptions of right to health are understood as a condition for reaching citizenship, and citizenship as social protection.

[Social representation of Alzheimer's disease for family caregivers: stressful and rewarding]. / Representação social da doença de Alzheimer para familiares cuidadores: desgastante e gratificante.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the content of Social Representation (SR) of family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients. METHOD: Interviews were conducted with 26 caregivers and analyzed by the ALCESTE software. RESULTS: The SR content was structured in two thematic axes called Daily Life and Care and Medical and Emotional Concepts and Outcomes. The first axis creates images related to the routine of interaction with the sick person, and contains a description of care procedures, experiences, and practices applied every day. The second is composed of subjective and conceptual aspects that make up the social representation of Alzheimer's disease, with meanings related to the emotional, medical, and biological contexts. CONCLUSION: Due to the importance of topics related to patients' dependence and the personal and emotional consequences of the disease, overload is the main content of the SR of Alzheimer's disease for caregivers, and the understanding of these SR by health professionals should support the planning of interventions addressing this group of individuals.

Creation of complexity assessment tool for patients receiving home care.

OBJECTIVE: To create and validate a complexity assessment tool for patients receiving home care from a public health service. METHOD: A diagnostic accuracy study, with estimates for the tool's validity and reliability. Measurements of sensitivity and specificity were considered when producing validity estimates. The resulting tool was used for testing. Assessment by a specialized team of home care professionals was used as the gold standard. In the tool's reliability study, the authors used the Kappa statistic. The tool's sensitivity and specificity were analyzed using various cut-off points. RESULTS: On the best cut-off point-21-with the gold standard, a sensitivity of 75.5% was obtained, with the limits of confidence interval (95%) at 68.3% and 82.8% and specificity of 53.2%, with the limits of confidence interval (95%) at 43.8% and 62.7%. CONCLUSION: The tool presented evidence of validity and reliability, possibly helping in service organization at patient admission, care type change, or support during the creation of care plans. OBJETIVO: Elaborar e validar instrumento de classificação de complexidade assistencial de pacientes em atenção domiciliar de um serviço público de saúde. MÉTODO: Estudo de acurácia de diagnóstico, com estimativas de validade e de reprodutibilidade do instrumento. Para a estimativa da validade foram consideradas as medidas de sensibilidade e especificidade; como teste, o instrumento elaborado e como padrão ouro, a classificação atribuída por equipe especializada de profissionais de saúde em atenção domiciliar. No estudo de reprodutibilidade do instrumento foi utilizada a estatística Kappa. A sensibilidade e especificidade do instrumento foram analisadas considerando-se diferentes pontos de corte. RESULTADOS: Para o melhor ponto de corte - 21 - com o padrão ouro obteve-se Sensibilidade de 75,5% com os limites do IC (95%) iguais a 68,3% e 82,8% e Especificidade igual a 53,2% com os limites do IC (95%) iguais a 43,8% e 62,7%. CONCLUSÃO: O instrumento apresentou evidências de validade e reprodutibilidade, podendo vir a auxiliar na organização do serviço, quer na admissão do paciente, quer na migração de modalidade assistencial e no suporte para elaboração do plano terapêutico.

What Are the Best Practices for Nursing Care during an Earthquake? A Scoping Review.

Among natural disasters, earthquakes have a considerable impact and are among the ten deadliest, with an extreme impact on the healthcare sector. This study aimed to analyze the best practices in nursing care for earthquake victims. An in-depth analysis was carried out by using a scoping review, a method used in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR recommendations, to identify best nursing practice in these circumstances based on searches of eight databases: MEDLINE via PubMed; Cochrane Library; Embase; VHL; PDQ-Evidence; Scopus; ProQuest; and Google Scholar. Twenty-one studies were selected. The nursing practices identified were grouped into two distinct dimensions, each subdivided into four subcategories: (i) care practices: (a) immediate care, (b) intermediate care, (c) psychosocial care, and (d) ethical care; (ii) care management and coordination practices, which cover (a) care coordination, (b) victim care network organization, (c) teamwork, and (d) training. By analyzing these nursing practices during care and relief operations for earthquake victims, this study identified the various actions carried out, the nursing skills to be developed, and the reinforcement of these advanced practices through the systematization of nurses' skills, in order to promote victims' rehabilitation, minimize their suffering, and improve their quality of life during and after an earthquake.

Does pay-for-performance design matter? Evidence from Brazil.

Pay-for-performance (P4P) schemes have been shown to have mixed effects on health care outcomes. A challenge in interpreting this evidence is that P4P is often considered a homogenous intervention, when in practice schemes vary widely in their design. Our study contributes to this literature by providing a detailed depiction of incentive design across municipalities within a national P4P scheme in Brazil [Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ)] and exploring the association of alternative design typologies with the performance of primary health care providers. We carried out a nation-wide survey of municipal health managers to characterize the scheme design, based on the size of the bonus, the providers incentivized and the frequency of payment. Using OLS regressions and controlling for municipality characteristics, we examined whether each design feature was associated with better family health team (FHT) performance. To capture potential interactions between design features, we used cluster analysis to group municipalities into five design typologies and then examined associations with quality of care. A majority of the municipalities included in our study used some of the PMAQ funds to provide bonuses to FHT workers, while the remaining municipalities spent the funds in the traditional way using input-based budgets. Frequent bonus payments (monthly) and higher size bonus allocations (share of 20-80%) were strongly associated with better team performance, while who within a team was eligible to receive bonuses did not in isolation appear to influence performance. The cluster analysis showed what combinations of design features were associated with better performance. The PMAQ score in the 'large bonus/many workers/high-frequency' cluster was 8.44 points higher than the 'no bonus' cluster, equivalent to a difference of 21.7% in the mean PMAQ score. Evidence from our study shows how design features can potentially influence health provider performance, informing the design of more effective P4P schemes.

The vulnerabilities of Venezuelan immigrants in Brazil and Colombia from the perspective of Intervention Bioethics.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the vulnerabilities to which Venezuelan immigrants living in Brazil and Colombia are exposed, from the perspective of Intervention Bioethics. METHOD: Qualitative study, carried out through a semi-structured interview, with 15 immigrants living in Brasília-Brazil and 20 in Medellín-Colombia, analyzed by the IRAMUTEQ software, in the Descending Hierarchical Classification and Similitude Analysis modalities. RESULTS: The first thematic axis dealt with the reasons for immigrating, above all, difficulties in accessing food and health services. The second axis revealed the trajectory of the migration process, especially the adversities faced before arriving in the countries. The third axis highlighted the challenges of integration in the destination countries, with emphasis on the processes of exclusion and discrimination faced. CONCLUSION: It was observed that both Brazil and Colombia need, as proposed by Bioethics of Intervention, to develop policies to reduce the vulnerabilities of immigrants to guarantee a dignified life without discrimination against them.

Pay-for-performance for primary health care in Brazil: A comparison with England's Quality Outcomes Framework and lessons for the future.

Pay-for-performance (P4P) has been widely applied in OECD countries to improve the quality of both primary and secondary care, and is increasingly being implemented in low- and middle-income countries. In 2011, Brazil introduced one of the largest P4P schemes in the world, the National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ). We critically assess the design of PMAQ, drawing on a comparison with England's quality and outcome framework which, like PMAQ, was implemented at scale relatively rapidly within a nationalised health system. A key feature of PMAQ was that payment was based on the performance of primary care teams but rewards were given to municipalities, who had autonomy in how the funds could be used. This meant the incentives felt by family health teams were contingent on municipality decisions on whether to pass the funds on as bonuses and the basis upon which they allocated the funds between and within teams. Compared with England's P4P scheme, performance measurement under PMAQ focused more on structural rather than process quality of care, relied on many more indicators, and was less regular. While PMAQ represented an important new funding stream for primary health care, our review suggests that theoretical incentives generated were unclear and could have been better structured to direct health providers towards improvements in quality of care.

Elderly Mortality due to Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions and Primary Health Care Coverage in the Federal District.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the mortality coefficients of elderly due to primary care sensitive conditions, from 2008 to 2018, and determine its association with the coverage of the Primary Health Care (Family Health Strategy and Basic Care models) in the Federal District. METHODS: Ecological time series of mortality in Federal District elderly, from 2008 to 2018. The Poisson regression model was applied, considering as significant those with p<0.05, with a CI of 95%. RESULTS: There were 70,503 deaths. There was a decrease in the risk of death of elders due to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Higher primary care coverage decreased the chance of death by sensitive conditions, both in Basic Care (OR: 0.994, CI: 0.990-0.998) and in the Family Health Strategy (OR: 0.997, CI: 0.995-0.999). CONCLUSIONS: Primary Care coverage was associated with a lower chance of death of the elderly due to Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, especially in Basic Care.

Integrality and comprehensiveness of service provision in Primary Health Care in Brazil (2012-2018).

OBJECTIVES: to analyze comprehensiveness elements in Primary Care in Brazil, between 2012 and 2018, considering preventive and assistance aspects, pointing out advances and obstacles to its improvement in different contexts. METHODS: a retrospective longitudinal study using data from the Brazilian National Program for Improving Access and Quality in Primary Care. 15,378 teams were selected that participated in both 1st and 3rd cycles of the program. RESULTS: improvements were found in the prevalence of teams that ensure preventive and assistance care for priority groups, who develop promotion actions, offer essential procedures, including oral health, carry out home visits, receive support from Extended Family Health and Primary Care Center, offer integrative and complementary practices and develop intersectoral actions. CONCLUSIONS: there has been an improvement in comprehensiveness in Primary Health services, but problems remain that still need to be faced for their improvement.

[How Brazilians access Primary Health Care: evolution and adversities in recent times (2012-2018)]. / Como os brasileiros acessam a Atenção Básica em Saúde: evolução e adversidades no período recente (2012-2018).

The scope of this study is to analyze access to primary care in Brazil between 2012 and 2018, taking into consideration the availability of services and the physical-structural, temporal and organizational characteristics of the primary care units and teams, highlighting the main advances and obstacles to their enhancement in different contexts. It involved a descriptive cross-sectional and longitudinal study, with a quantitative approach based on secondary data from the National Program for the Improvement of Access and Quality of PC and population coverage data from the Ministry of Health. A total of 15,378 teams were selected and data screened from 59,354 users relating to the teams selected for 2012, and 56,369 users for 2018. Improvements were noted with respect to service availability and in terms of physical and architectural structure; the majority of the teams implemented and/or qualified the reception to spontaneous demand, including emergency care, improved the ways of organizing the agenda to foster a more integrated contact between users and health professionals and qualified the ways of scheduling and reduced the waiting times between scheduling and care. However, the persistence of recurring problems that need to be addressed to improve access to primary care in the country was detected.

O objetivo do estudo é analisar o acesso à atenção básica (AB) no Brasil, entre 2012 e 2018, considerando a disponibilidade de serviços, as características físico-estruturais, temporais e organizacionais das unidades básicas de saúde e das equipes, apontando seus principais avanços e obstáculos para a sua melhoria, em diferentes contextos. Estudo descritivo transversal e longitudinal, que utilizou a base de dados secundários do Programa Nacional de Melhoria do Acesso e da Qualidade da AB e dados de cobertura populacional do Ministério da Saúde. Foram selecionadas 15.378 equipes e mobilizados dados de 59.354 usuários referindo-se às equipes selecionadas para 2012 e 56.369 para 2018. Constataram-se melhorias quanto à disponibilidade de serviços e nas condições de estrutura física e arquitetônica; a maioria das equipes implantaram e/ou qualificaram o acolhimento à demanda espontânea, incluindo atendimento a urgências, melhoraram os modos de organização da agenda para favorecer um contato mais fluído entre usuários e profissionais de saúde e qualificaram os modos de agendamento e diminuíram os tempos de espera entre o agendamento e o atendimento. Contudo, foram constatadas a persistência de problemas recorrentes que precisam ser enfrentados para a melhoria do acesso à atenção básica no país.

[Regional Health Planning in Brazil from the perspective of health managers: advances and challenges]. / Regionalização da saúde no Brasil na perspectiva dos gestores municipais: avanços e desafios.

The scope of this study was to analyze, from the standpoint of managers, the conformity of the process of regionalization in health in Brazil, with emphasis on the main advances and challenges. A mixed exploratory and descriptive study was conducted. In the first stage, an electronic questionnaire was given to managers from all health regions of the country. In the second stage, focus groups were staged with managers in all macro regions. A semi-structured interview was used to encourage managers to speak about the advances and main challenges of the process of regionalization. The data was analyzed using Iramuteq software, more specifically the Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC), resulting in three main themes: the first deals with the efforts made for the regional organization at the macro level of management, with emphasis on reducing inequalities, actions and services to users; the second demonstrates the regional organization and the difficulties for the organization of the local system; the third reveals difficulties in accessing health services, especially those with greater technological complexity. The research results point to advances and challenges, involving a risk for the structuring of the regionalization process, with bureaucratic and fragmentation implications.

Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar, à luz da percepção dos gestores, a conformação do processo de regionalização em saúde no Brasil, com ênfase nos principais avanços e desafios. Um estudo misto do tipo exploratório e descritivo. Na primeira etapa foi aplicado um questionário eletrônico aos gestores de todas as regiões de saúde do país. Na segunda foram realizados grupos focais com os gestores de todas as macrorregiões. Utilizou-se um roteiro semiestruturado para estimular os gestores a falarem livremente sobre o processo de regionalização, seus avanços e principais desafios. Os dados foram analisados no software Iramuteq, com classificação hierárquica descendente (CHD), o que resultou em três eixos temáticos: o primeiro trata dos esforços realizados para a organização regional no nível mais macro da gestão, com destaque para a redução das desigualdades e o provimento de ações e serviços aos usuários; o segundo mostra a organização regional e as dificuldades para a organização do sistema local; o terceiro evidencia as dificuldades de acesso aos serviços de saúde, sobretudo os de maior complexidade tecnológica. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para avanços e desafios, envolvendo um risco para a estruturação do processo de regionalização, com nuances burocráticas e fragmentadas.

Pay for performance in primary care: the contribution of the Programme for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care (PMAQ) on avoidable hospitalisations in Brazil, 2009-2018.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effect of pay-for-performance (P4P) schemes on provider performance is mixed in low-income and middle-income countries. Brazil introduced its first national-level P4P scheme in 2011 (PMAQ-Brazilian National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality). PMAQ is likely one of the largest P4P schemes in the world. We estimate the association between PMAQ and hospitalisations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) based on a panel of 5564 municipalities. METHODS: We conducted a fixed effect panel data analysis over the period of 2009-2018, controlling for coverage of primary healthcare, hospital beds per 10 000 population, education, real gross domestic product per capita and population density. The outcome is the hospitalisation rate for ACSCs among people aged 64 years and under per 10 000 population. Our exposure variable is defined as the percentage of family health teams participating in PMAQ, which captures the roll-out of PMAQ over time. We also provided several sensitivity analyses, by using alternative measures of the exposure and outcome variables, and a placebo test using transport accident hospitalisations instead of ACSCs. RESULTS: The results show a negative and statistically significant association between the rollout of PMAQ and ACSC rates for all age groups. An increase in PMAQ participating of one percentage point decreased the hospitalisation rate for ACSC by 0.0356 (SE 0.0123, p=0.004) per 10 000 population (aged 0-64 years). This corresponds to a reduction of approximately 60 829 hospitalisations in 2018. The impact is stronger for children under 5 years (-0.0940, SE 0.0375, p=0.012), representing a reduction of around 11 936 hospitalisations. Our placebo test shows that the association of PMAQ on the hospitalisation rate for transport accidents is not statistically significant, as expected. CONCLUSION: We find that PMAQ was associated with a modest reduction in hospitalisation for ACSCs.

[Analysis of the implementation of Nursing Assistance Systematization in a rehabilitation unit]. / Análise da implementação da Sistematização da Assistência de Enfermagem em uma unidade de reabilitação.

This study seeks to analyze the execution of the Infirmary Attendance Systematization Nursing stages through an exploratory, qualitative and retrospective approach. The retrospective analysis took place using 25 medic reports containing 25 historical reports, 12 diagnosis reports, 100 prescriptions and 100 nursing evolution reports. The results demonstrated the many difficulties the nurses faced to make Nursing Assistance Systematization operational. Although all Nursing Assistance Systematization stages were accomplished - historical, diagnosis, prescription, evolution and nursing - it was verified a larger frequency in filling prescription and historical related forms and a lesser one related with evolution and diagnosis related forms. In short, Nursing Assistance Systematization procedures still are fragmentized, showing the need to reorganize this attendance methodology attendance, and, above all, to invest in continuous nursing training to improve the customer care services quality.