Digital Health and Primary Health Care Quality: A Survey Case Study

Abstract

Background: Digital health, especially in Primary Health Care (PHC), has been expanding rapidly, encompassing various technologies to improve care. This study aims to evaluate the integration of digital technologies in PHC, identifying barriers and facilitators in a Brazilian capital in an urban context.

Methods: A survey with a questionnaire based on a validated model was used, involving physicians and nurses from Basic Health Units. The analysis included descriptive statistics and association tests in the SPSS software, with a significance level of 5%.

Results: The findings show the presence of computers and the use of e-SUS/Electronic Citizen Record in all units, highlighting WhatsApp^®, telephone calls, and other digital media as the main used tools. It was observed that there was limited digital infrastructure, a lack of adequate training for professionals or specific protocols for the organization of digital actions and statistical associations with the performance of digital health actions.

Conclusions: It is recommended to strengthen policies for professional qualification and investments in infrastructure, aiming at the continuity and improvement of the use of Information and Communication Technologies in PHC. These findings offer comparable insights for similar contexts in Brazil in urban PHC settings and countries with equivalent socioeconomic contexts and analogous public health systems.

Keywords: digital health; digital health education; health informatics; health information technology; primary health care; surveys and questionnaires.