Evaluation of results of cardiovascular care as a tracer of the comprehensiveness principle1

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the articulation among levels of cardiovascular care in the region of Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil. It is an evaluative research using secondary data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. We analyzed all outpatient and hospital procedures related to cardiovascular diseases that were treated in primary and hospital care in 26 municipalities in the period 2000-2010. Time series were used in the analysis and the assumption was regional organization of health systems. The production varies during the period, with an increase in outpatient care and surgical hospitalizations, and a decrease in clinical admissions. There is an uneven supply of services in the municipalities, and the smallest ones concentrate electrocardiograms and clinical admissions. More complex diagnostic tests and surgical admissions are conducted predominantly in the largest city. The evaluation of health services using cardiovascular problems as the tracer condition proved to be adequate, as it showed articulations among levels of care in the regional health system. This allows us to infer that regionalization, in this scenario, favors comprehensive care in its horizontal dimension.