Cetic.br Survey Indicates 69% of Basic Health Units Have an Electronic System for Patient Information Registration

The ICT Health 2018 shows that the availability of telehealth services was higher in public establishments compared to private ones

In 2018, 69% of Basic Health Units (UBS) had an electronic system for registering patient information. Moreover, 65% maintained patient records in a fully or partially electronic format, while 35% did so only on paper. The data comes from the sixth edition of the ICT Health Survey, launched this Thursday (17/10) by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), through the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br). The disclosure of indicators and the publication took place in São Paulo during the panel “The Importance of Measurements and Indicators for the Improvement of Public Health Policies” held at the workshop "Scientific Computing, Data Visualization & Analytics in Medicine in the Era of Big Data".

“The UBS are the entry point to the health system. However, the adoption of new technologies and information systems by UBS still faces barriers related to infrastructure, such as the lack of computers and Internet access,” highlights Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br. In 2018, 10% of UBS had no computers, and 20% had no Internet access. In a universe of 40,500 UBS, this proportion corresponds to about 3,900 and 4,200, respectively.

Considering all public health establishments (including UBS) with Internet access, 66% of them had some type of electronic system for registering patient information in 2018 – a number that reached 80% in private establishments. Regarding the form of record storage, 10% of public locations maintained exclusively in electronic format; 38% exclusively on paper; and 51% in both forms. In private establishments, the numbers were 25%, 17%, and 56%, respectively.

The most present functionalities in health establishments were administrative in nature when compared to decision-support information and information exchange. Appointment scheduling for consultations, exams, or surgeries was available in 53% of public establishments and 56% in private ones; generating requests for materials and supplies in 50% of public establishments with Internet access, and 39% in private ones. Decision-support features such as clinical guidelines, alerts, and reminders about drug allergies or contraindication were present in about a quarter of all health establishments with Internet access.

Infrastructure and ICT Management

The data from the ICT Health Survey 2018 also reveal the use of computers (91%) and Internet access (83%) in public health establishments, and stability in private ones (99% in both cases) compared to the previous year. Besides the disparity concerning the administrative sphere, Internet access in health establishments also varied by region: those with the lowest percentage are the North (80%) and Northeast (82%).

Regarding data security and protection, the survey indicates that 19% of public and 27% of private establishments had a document defining a security policy. Information security tools such as email encryption (27% public and 56% private) and database encryption (24% public and 35% private) still remain among the least used by health establishments.

Online Services Offered to Patients and Telehealth

The most available online services for patient access across all establishments were consultation scheduling (26%), exam scheduling (27%), and viewing results (26%). The highlight was for establishments without admission that showed an upward trend in online scheduling availability, increasing from 18% in 2016 to 29% in 2018.

Following the trend shown in previous years, the availability of telehealth services was greater in public establishments compared to private ones, especially concerning distance education in health (37% in public vs. 12% in private) and distance research activities (29% in public vs. 8% in private).

The 6th edition of the survey presents new telehealth service indicators, such as teleconsultation (29% in public and 11% in private), formative second opinion (17% in public and 5% in private), and telediagnosis (22% in public and 4% in private). “Better utilization of telehealth's potential is essential for pursuing a true universalization of the services provided,” adds Barbosa.

Adoption of ICT among Doctors and Nurses

The survey indicates that only 25% of nurses and 19% of doctors reported having completed any course related to the health informatics area in the 12 months preceding the survey. In general, professionals from private establishments take more courses in this area compared to those in public establishments. According to the perception of doctors and nurses, among the most mentioned impacts related to the use of electronic systems are: improving the efficiency of work processes of the teams (92% for both) and the perception that electronic systems provide greater efficiency in service (89% for nurses and 84% for doctors). Moreover, only 29% of nurses and 34% of doctors agreed that the financial resources for investing in electronic systems were sufficient for the establishment's needs.

About the Survey

The ICT Health Survey aims to investigate the penetration of ICT in health establishments and its appropriation by health professionals (doctors and nurses). In its sixth edition, the survey interviewed 2,387 managers of health establishments located throughout the national territory. Furthermore, 1,697 doctors and 2,716 nurses linked to these establishments were interviewed. Data collection occurred between July and November 2018 for the managers, and for the sample of health professionals, data collection occurred between September 2018 and February 2019.

To access the full survey, as well as review the historical series, visit: https://cetic.br/pesquisa/saude/indicadores. Read the annual publication at https://cetic.br/pesquisa/saude/publicacoes, and compare the evolution of the indicators through data visualization: https://data.cetic.br/cetic/explore?idPesquisa=TIC_SAUDE.

About Cetic.br
The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society, part of NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics about the availability and use of the Internet in Brazil, disclosing periodic analyses and information about the network's development in the country. Cetic.br is a Regional Center for Studies, under the auspices of UNESCO. More information at https://www.cetic.br/. 

About the Brazilian Network Information Center – NIC.br
The Brazilian Network Information Center — NIC.br (https://www.nic.br/) is a civil, private, non-profit entity that, besides implementing the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, has among its responsibilities: coordinating domain name registration — Registro.br (https://www.registro.br/), studying, responding to and handling security incidents in Brazil — CERT.br (https://www.cert.br/), studying and researching network technologies and operations — Ceptro.br (https://www.ceptro.br/), producing indicators on information and communication technologies — Cetic.br (https://www.cetic.br/), implementing and operating Internet Exchange Points — IX.br (https://ix.br/), enabling the Brazilian community's participation in the global development of the Web and supporting the formulation of public policies — Ceweb.br (https://www.ceweb.br), and hosting the W3C office in Brazil (https://www.w3c.br/). 

About the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br
The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, responsible for setting strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinates and integrates all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and dissemination of offered services. Based on the principles of multi-stakeholderism and transparency, CGI.br represents a democratic internet governance model, praised internationally, where all sectors of society participate equitably in its decisions. One of its formulations are the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://www.cgi.br/principios). More information at https://www.cgi.br/.

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