The Ministry of Health is implementing a series of innovative measures to improve access to specialized care in Unified Health System (SUS). Alexandre Padilha announced news on the program “Now there’s a specialist”which aims to reduce waiting time for consultations and expert exams.
One of the main actions is negotiation with health plans and private and philanthropic hospitals to make available. Padilha pointed out that only 10% of expert doctors work exclusively in the public system, making this partnership essential to expand the offer of services.
Sanitary Transport and Telemedicine
The program also includes the creation of a sanitary transport system to facilitate the displacement of patients between municipalities. In addition, the ministry plans to reinforce the use of, taking advantage of resources from hospitals of excellence such as Syrian-Lebanese and Albert Einstein.
A concrete example is the partnership with the AC Camargo Hospital to create a “Super Center Brazil Diagnostic” for Cancer. This center will use telemedicine to perform more than a thousand reports per day, significantly speeding up the cancer diagnostic process.
Primary Care and New Payment Table
The program also seeks to strengthen the connection between primary care and specialized services, equipping basic health units to perform some exams locally. Padilha mentioned a provisional measure that allows the Ministry of Health to make a national accreditation of private services to SUSwith a new payment table that surpasses the old “SUS Table”.
With these initiatives, the Ministry of Health hopes to significantly increase the offer of specialized care and reduce waiting times in SUS, providing one to specialized health for the Brazilian population.
