Evaluation of the coordination of care by users of primary health care services

Abstract

Introduction: the coordination of care is shown as a strategic point of interventions in primary health care (PHC). Objective: to evaluate the quality of PHC services in a regional health coordination through users in the dimension of coordination of care. Method: analytical, cross-sectional study, in which 1,071 adult users from 32 municipalities that make up two health regions were interviewed. The primary care assessment tool (Primary Care Assessment Tool) Brazil was used in the adult version, and Pearson and Kruskal-Wallis chi-square tests were performed. Results: there was a high score in the dimension “integration of care” in the basic health unit (BHU) (6.66), Family Health Strategy (FHS) (6.34) and integrated BHU (6.87) and high score in the dimension “information systems” at BHU (7.22), FHS (7.09) and integrated BHU (7.27), with no significant differences in the assessment between the different models of care. The dimension of coordination of care, in the present study, was well evaluated, obtaining a high score in the different models of care. In addition, the study indicated that there was no statistical difference between them in PHC, as assessed by users. Conclusion: the study contributes so that PHC can be rethought in relation to the model that is being implemented in units with FHS, whose results need to be reflected by municipal and regional health managers.