Newly regulated teleconsultations or face-to-face medical consultations were used by 33% of physicians and 26% of nurses nationwide when caring for patients in 2022 (Information Society). This year’s ICT Health survey shows an increase in the use of technology by professionals in the sector compared to pre-pandemic times, which researchers say could positively impact healthcare.

One of the achievements is the electronic access to patient data. Among nurses, the number of nurses has increased from 52% in 2019 to 85% this year. patient history and records – from 62% to 85%; and imaging and radiological examinations from 42% to 65%. Among doctors, the availability of a list of prescribed drugs increased the most (from 74% to 85%); in the main reasons that brought the patient to the service (from 77% to 85%); and care notes (69% to 79%).

Teleconsultation, the contact to resolve doubts, has increased from 26% to 45% among physicians – Photo: Marcello Casal Jr/Agência Brasil/ND

The survey revealed progress in the use of so-called telehealth, services provided remotely using information and communication technology. Remote monitoring of patients, for example, which was carried out by 16% of nurses in 2019, began to be used by 29% of them in 2022. Among physicians, practice increased from 9% to 23% over the same period. Also compared to 2019 and 2022, teleconsultation services, contacts between professionals in this field to resolve doubts, increased from 26% to 34% among nurses and from 26% to 45% among doctors.

The data also shows that 68% of the country’s doctors have used electronic prescriptions. However, the form of prescription signing is still mostly manual (71%). For prescriptions written by nurses, an item included in the study for the first time, 51% were computer-based and 68% were signed by hand.

Infrastructure

According to the study, in 2022, 97% of public health facilities already had computers, compared to 94% in 2021. For example, in the Northeast, 97% of these places have a computer and Internet access, compared to 92%. and 91%, respectively, in the previous year. UBS (Basic Medical Units) recorded an increase in computer usage (from 94% to 97% in the same period) and Internet access (from 92% to 97%). Of the total number of 43 thousand UBS, 1.3 thousand do not have these technological resources.

Information security

Also according to the survey, the percentage of medical institutions that have some kind of information security policy has increased from 30% in 2021 to 39% in 2022. Growth was greater among private institutions, half of which have a policy on the issue, compared to 25%. the public.

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ICT Health has been held since 2013 and aims to study the penetration of information and communication technologies in medical institutions and their use by medical professionals. The study was supported by international organizations such as the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

The study is supported by the Ministry of Health and Datasus (Department of Information Technology SUS), ANS (National Agency for Complementary Health), Conass (National Council of Health Secretaries), Conasems (National Council of Municipal Health Secretaries) and SBIS (Brazilian Society for Health Informatics).

In this year’s edition, interviews were conducted between April and October 2022 with 2,127 heads of health facilities located across the country. The survey also interviewed 1,942 medical workers.