Record of hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions: validation of the hospital information system

OBJECTIVE: to estimate the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of the Unified Health System's Hospital Information System for the appropriate recording of hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. METHOD: the hospital information system records for conditions which are sensitive to ambulatory care, and for those which are not, were considered for analysis, taking the medical records as the gold standard. Through simple random sampling, a sample of 816 medical records was defined and selected by means of a list of random numbers using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. RESULT: the sensitivity was 81.89%, specificity was 95.19%, the positive predictive value was 77.61% and the negative predictive value was 96.27%. In the study setting, the Hospital Information System (SIH) was more specific than sensitive, with nearly 20% of care sensitive conditions not detected. CONCLUSION: there are no validation studies in Brazil of the Hospital Information System records for the hospitalizations which are sensitive to primary health care. These results are relevant when one considers that this system is one of the bases for assessment of the effectiveness of primary health care

Internações por condições sensíveis à atenção primária no estado de São Paulo Internment for conditions suitable for primary healthcare in Sao Paulo state

Internações Sensíveis à Atenção Primária se constitui num novo indicador, utilizado em alguns países, para medir indiretamente o funcionamento e a capacidade de resolução da Atenção Primária. Este estudo tem como objetivo apresentar o panorama das internações sensíveis à atenção primária no Estado de São Paulo. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo ecológico, realizado no período de 2000 a 2007. Os dados foram gerados por município de residência do paciente e agregados por Departamentos Regionais de Saúde. Para obtenção dos mesmos foram utilizados os Sistemas de Informação do Ministério da Saúde e estimativa populacional do IBGE. As internações sensíveis à atenção primária no Estado seguem uma tendência de redução sugerindo relação com a adoção da Estratégia de Saúde da Família. Observa-se redução nas internações por diabetes e chama atenção o aumento de internações por doenças relacionadas ao pré-natal e parto. Considerando a publicação recente da Lista Brasileira de Diagnósticos, os estudos que se utilizem dela podem ser de grande valia para os gestores envolvidos com a atenção primária, podendo funcionar como balizadores de sua qualidade contribuindo para avaliação da implantação das políticas de saúde no Brasil.<br>Internments suitable for Primary Healthcare constitute a new indicator used in some countries to indirectly measure the resolution capability of Primary Healthcare. The scope of this study is to present the panorama of the internments suitable for primary healthcare in Sao Paulo State. An ecological descriptive study was carried out for the period from 2000 to 2007. The data were generated by patient's county of residence and grouped by Regional Health Departments. The Information Systems of the Health Ministry and the population estimates of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) were used to obtain the data of all patients. The internments suitable for primary healthcare in the state follow a tendency toward reduction suggesting a connection with the adoption of the Family Health Program. A reduction in internments for diabetes was detected and attention was drawn to the increase of internment for illnesses related to prenatal care and childbirth. In light of the recent publication of the Brazilian Diagnostics List, studies that analyze the statistics from it can be very useful for managers involved with primary care, and can serve as benchmarks for quality and contribute to assessment for the implementation of health policies in Brazil