Cetic.br Survey Highlights Remote Health Initiatives in Public Establishments

The use of electronic medical records and information security are among the data investigated by the ICT Health 2014 survey

The ICT Health 2014 survey, conducted 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), highlights the importance of distance education and research actions in health within public sector establishments in Brazil. The indicators and publication, which presents an analysis of the survey results, were launched on Thursday (20th) during the 15th World Congress on Health Informatics, Medinfo 2015, at the Frei Caneca Convention Center in São Paulo.

 

In its second edition, the ICT Health survey investigates the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in health establishments and the appropriation of these resources by sector professionals. In 2014, 2,121 public and private health establishments across the country were interviewed, as well as 1,067 doctors and 2,037 nurses. The survey was conducted between September 2014 and March 2015.

Telehealth

The use of ICT to provide remote health initiatives, known as telehealth, stands out more among public health establishments. Distance education actions are available in 27% of health establishments with Internet access – among public establishments this proportion reaches 41%. Distance research activities are carried out by 20% of establishments, a percentage higher among public establishments (28%). Also among establishments with Internet, 21% participate in some telehealth network. In the public sector, the percentage of network participants reaches 37%, while only 8% of private do so. The presence of remote patient monitoring services is still reduced (8% of health establishments with Internet access).

“The advancement of telehealth is an important trend as it shows the development of public policies aligned with the use of technology. It is essential to maintain mechanisms for training and educating professionals, as well as allow interaction with other health establishments and even remote patient care or diagnosis,” highlights Alexandre Barbosa, Cetic.br manager.

Infrastructure

The basic ICT infrastructure in health establishments showed growth. In 2014, 92% of these establishments used computers in the 12 months prior to the survey and 85% accessed the Internet – in 2013, these proportions were 83% and 77%, respectively. Among health professionals, home access to computers and the Internet is virtually universalized. Nurses, however, report greater access to ICT in the workplace than doctors: 80% of nurses and 65% of doctors have access to the device in their workplaces.

Patient data available electronically

The ICT Health 2014 survey identified that 52% of establishments that used the Internet in the last 12 months have some type of electronic record of the information present in patient medical records. In 29% of establishments, patient information is recorded partially on paper and partially in electronic format, and in 23% fully electronically. On the other hand, 45% of establishments that used the Internet in the last 12 months make records entirely on paper. According to ICT Health 2014, this incorporation is lower among establishments with inpatients, which may be associated with the complexity of recording clinical information in this type of location.

Registration data predominates among electronically available patient information and is present in 73% of health establishments. Clinical care data, however, has lower availability: 31% of establishments with Internet report having electronically available information on allergies, 26% on vaccines, 25% on vital signs, and 18% have radiological exam images. Regarding information security, it was observed that 35% of health establishments connected to the network have an internal security policy governed by a manual or document.

Barriers to use and perception of ICT impact

The lack of resources for technology investment is seen by 79% of doctors and 78% of nurses as a barrier to the implementation of electronic systems. Among the items presented by the survey, health professionals also see the lack of prioritization in public policies (76% of doctors and 69% of nurses) and lack of training (70% of doctors and 68% of nurses) as significant barriers to the adoption of technological solutions.

Although most doctors and nurses do not perceive a reduction in workload due to the use of technologies, the perception regarding patient care and management of medical routines is positive – for 72% of doctors and 76% of nurses, the implementation of electronic systems made it possible to improve the overall quality of treatment.

For more information on the ICT Health 2014 survey, visit: https://cetic.br/.

About Cetic.br

The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society, from NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics on the availability and use of the Internet in Brazil, disseminating analyses and periodic information on network development in the country. Cetic.br is a Regional Study Center, 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 nonprofit civil entity, responsible for implementing the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. Permanent activities of NIC.br include coordinating domain name registration — Registro.br (https://www.registro.br/), researching, 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/), promoting and fostering the evolution of the Web in Brazil — 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 is responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinating and integrating all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and the dissemination of offered services. Based on the principles of multistakeholderism and transparency, the CGI.br represents a democratic Internet governance model, praised internationally, in which all sectors of society participate equally 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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