Abstract
Background
The Family Health Strategy (FHS) became consolidated as a primary care model and gatekeeper for the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) in the Brazil and it is considered one of the largest primary health care programmes in the world. Its rapid expansion allowed the SUS to meet the changing health care needs of the population remote localities of Brazilian municipalities.
Methods
In the present study, exploratory data analysis was performed using modelling to provide a general overview of the study and to delineate possible structural characteristics of the cross-sectional time-series data. Panel regression methods were used to assess the association between FHS coverage and ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations (ACSH rates) in the municipalities of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, from 2008 to 2017.
Results
The results showed strong evidence for the association between FHS coverage and ACSH rates, including reductions of 22% in preventable hospitalizations and 15% in hospital expenses that were directly linked to the 40% increase in FHS population coverage during the evaluated period. This expansion of primary care has mainly benefitted areas that are difficult to access and populations that were previously deprived of health care in the vast Amazon territory.
Conclusions
The findings of this study show that the increase of the expansion of primary care reduces the preventable hospitalization and the hospital expenses. This reinforces the need for public protection of the health of populations at risk and the positive impacts of primary care in the Brazilian Amazon.
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Reference47 articles.
1. Contribution of primary care to health systems and health;B Starfield;Milbank Q,2005
2. The Brazilian health system: History, advances, and challenges;J Paim;Lancet,2011
3. Does expanding primary healthcare improve hospital efficiency? Evidence from a panel analysis of avoidable hospitalisations in 5506 municipalities in Brazil, 2000–2014;EN Da Silva;BMJ Glob Heal,2017
4. Income-related inequalities and inequities in health care services utilisation in 18 selected OECD countries;M. Devaux;Eur J Heal Econ,2013
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献