Electronic patient registration advances in the country's Basic Health Units, but 18% still lack Internet access

The ICT Health 2019 survey indicates that 23% of the BHUs offer appointment scheduling online and 20% offer exam scheduling

Among the Basic Health Units (BHUs) connected in Brazil, 78% have electronic patient information registration systems – an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the previous year. In the country, 3,500 (9%) of the BHUs still lack computers, and 7,200 (18%) do not have Internet access. This is according to the ICT Health 2019 survey, released today (July 21) 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).

According to the 7th edition of the survey, there has been progress in how patient information is stored in these establishments: the percentage of BHUs that maintain records only on paper (25% in 2019) has decreased, while the percentage of BHUs that maintain both paper and electronic records increased from 35% in 2018 to 59% in 2019.

Despite the progress in computerization of connected BHUs, there is still room for growth in the online services offered to patients: only 23% offer appointment scheduling online, 20% offer exam scheduling, and 22% provide online results visualization.

"Even though the scenario in these health units has shown improvements, there is a significant portion of BHUs without computers and without Internet access. This is very relevant at a time when we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic and we need, more than ever, for these establishments to be computerized and connected so that they can provide updated information for the control and combat of the disease," says Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br.

When considering the entire set of health establishments interviewed by the ICT Health 2019 survey, it indicates that in 2019, 92% of public establishments had a computer and 85% had Internet access, while 100% of private ones declared having access to the network. The study also showed that there are still regional differences in the available ICT infrastructure in the establishments: in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, 92% and 90% use computers and 82% and 83% have Internet access. The presence of computers and Internet is higher in the establishments of the South (98% have computers and 98% have Internet access), Southeast (96% have computers and 95% have Internet access), and Center-West (97% have computers and 95% have Internet access) regions.

Electronic Health Records
The ICT Health 2019 survey indicates a greater adoption of electronic patient information registration systems by health establishments (82% in 2019, compared to 73% in 2018), with numbers reaching 74% among public and 88% among private establishments. Disparities among regions were also observed in this indicator: North (74%), Northeast (77%), and Center-West (78%) had the lowest percentage of establishments with electronic registration systems. This number rises to 90% in the South and 83% in the Southeast regions.

The increased adoption of electronic systems in public establishments was accompanied by greater availability of patient data in this format. Information related to registration data, main reasons for patient care, diagnoses, administered vaccines, allergies, and vital signs were available electronically in more than 60% of public establishments.

Online Services for Citizens

The survey also shows that the online services most provided to patients by health establishments were appointment scheduling (24%), exam scheduling (23%), and results visualization (27%). In this indicator, service and support establishments for diagnosis and therapy stand out, with 39% offering exam scheduling and 60% allowing online results visualization.

"From the citizen's perspective, online services are important facilitators, especially during a pandemic, allowing simple procedures like scheduling an exam or viewing results to be done online, avoiding the need for people to physically go to the establishments to access this information," highlights Barbosa.

"The data presented by ICT Health is of extreme importance for the design and monitoring of public policies that contribute to the development of the Internet in the country, specifically to expand computerization and connection of Brazilian health establishments and improve the online services and care already offered," adds Maximiliano Martinhão, coordinator of CGI.br.

Telehealth
Public establishments conducted telehealth services in greater proportions. The services that were available in a higher percentage of establishments were health distance education (33% in public versus 8% in private) and teleconsultation services (28% in public versus 3% in private). Internet-only doctor-patient consultations had not yet been regulated at the time the ICT Health 2019 survey data was collected.

Data Security
The survey also showed that only 16% of public establishments and 44% of private ones claimed to have a data security policy. Among the most used security tools, both in public and private establishments, are: antivirus (83% of public and 98% of private), password protection for system access (72% of public and 82% of private), and firewall (44% of public and 59% of private). Public establishments have more sophisticated security tools in smaller proportions, such as data encryption (27% of public and 44% of private), digital certificates (16% of public and 57% of private), and electronic signatures (15% of public and 51% of private). These results show that most public establishments still need to make changes and adaptations to comply with the requirements provided by the General Data Protection Law, which will come into effect in 2021.

About the Survey
In its 7th edition, the ICT Health survey aims to investigate the adoption of ICTs in health establishments and their appropriation by health professionals (doctors and nurses). The survey interviewed, between July and November 2019, 2,427 managers of health establishments located throughout the national territory. Additionally, between September 2019 and February 2020, 1,732 doctors and 2,458 nurses linked to these establishments were interviewed. 

The ICT Health survey follows international body referentials such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Additionally, it has institutional and technical support from the Ministry of Health and the Department of Informatics of the SUS (DATASUS), the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS), the National Council of Health Secretaries (CONASS), as well as the Brazilian Health Informatics Society (SBIS) and experts from prestigious universities. 

Access the complete list of indicators at https://cetic.br/pt/pesquisa/saude/indicadores/.

About Cetic.br
The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society, of NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics on the availability and use of the Internet in Brazil, disseminating periodic analyses and information on 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 implements the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, among its responsibilities are: coordinating domain name registration — Registro.br (https://www.registro.br/), studying, responding, 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 about information and communication technologies — Cetic.br (https://www.cetic.br/), implementing and operating Internet Exchange Points — IX.br (https://ix.br/), facilitating Brazilian community participation in the global web development 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 establishing 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 the 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 are equal participants in its decisions. One of its formulations is the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://www.cgi.br/principios). More information at https://www.cgi.br/.

Press Contacts: 

Weber Shandwick
https://www.webershandwick.com.br/ 
PABX: (11) 3027-0200 / 3531-4950
Rogério Sousa – rsousa@webershandwick.com – (11) 95129-0037
Renata Albuquerque - RAlbuquerque@webershandwick.com - (11) 98415-0345 

NIC.br Communication Advisory
Caroline D’Avo – Communication Manager – caroline@nic.br
Carolina Carvalho – Communication Coordinator – carolcarvalho@nic.br
Soraia Marino – Communication Assistant – soraia@nic.br 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/NICbr/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/comuNICbr/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nicbrvideos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nic.br
Telegram: www.telegram.me/nicbr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nic-br/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicbr/

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.