Hospitalizações por condições sensíveis à atenção primária em Novo Hamburgo

Abstract

Since the 1990s, researchers from some countries such as the United States (BILLINGS, ANDERSON, NEWMAN, 1996; GILL et al., 1997), Spain (CASANOVA & STARFIELD, 1995; CAMINAL et al., 2001) and Canada (ROSS & MUSTARD, 1997; ROOS et al., 2005) have carried out studies using the indicator called admissions for conditions sensitive to primary care (ACSC). This indicator defines a group of health problems for which effective primary care care reduces the risk of hospitalizations, both by preventing its onset and by adequately managing the chronic condition or disease (SHI et al., 1999). In an attempt to assess the quality of the level of primary care, the Ministry of Health in Brazil drew up its own list of conditions sensitive to primary care. With the elaboration of this list, it has been possible to disseminate evaluative studies on primary care systems, based on the principle that high rates of ACSC may indicate problems of access or effectiveness of care in primary health care (PHC).