Mapping of scientific production on the Mais Médicos Program

Abstract

The Mais Médicos Program (MMP) was established by Law no. 12,871 of October, 22nd 2013 with the purpose of reducing regional inequalities in health and ensuring full and egalitarian access to health services. The implementation of this program has generated interest in health policy, planning, and management researchers, who intend to analyze its formulation and implementation process, as well as the results achieved until now. The objective of this article is to perform an integrative literature review concerning the MMP in different databases – Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, journal platform from Higher Education Improvement Coordination (Capes) and research platform from Mais Médicos Program –, to identify the main themes of investigation, researchers, and study results. We identified 137 articles published between 2013 and 2016, which were classified according to the year of publication, type of publication, language, field of knowledge, themes and subthemes approached, author’s affiliation, and results. Most studies were published on Brazil’s central south region, and were empirical studies evaluating or analyzing the program, pointing that MMP has reduced the shortage of physicians in some regions of the country, improved the doctor-patient relationship, stimulated interdisciplinary practices and consolidated primary care in the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). They also indicate some of the program’s limitations, especially the inadequacy of the profile of the professionals who integrate it, which demand the strengthening of the permanent educational initiatives for the personnel inserted in the program.