Challenges to implementing planning processes in Brazilian health regions.

Objective: To recognize elements that facilitated or hindered the PlanificaSUS implementation stages.

Methods: A multiple case study was carried out in four pre-selected health regions in Brazil-Belo Jardim (PE), Fronteira Oeste (RS), Sul-Mato-Grossense (MT) and Valença (BA) using systemic arterial hypertension and maternal and child care as tracer conditions. Participant observation (in regional interagency commissions) and in-depth interviews with key informants from state and municipal management and primary health care and specialized outpatient care service professionals within the project were carried out in these four regions.

Factors associated with the hospitalization of users referred from primary health care to follow-up in Psychosocial Care Centers in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

This study evaluated factors associated with hospitalization related to the mental health of people undergoing follow-up in Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS, in Portuguese) in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, referred from Primary Health Care (PHC). This was an evaluative study conducted with 297 individuals in 24 adult CAPS. This study analyzed the prevalence ratios (PR) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), obtained through Poisson Regression with robust variance.

[Breast cancer care from a suspected case detected in primary health care in São Paulo and Campinas, Brazil].

We aimed to identify factors that interfere in breast cancer (BC) suspected cases detected in Primary Health Care (PHC) that drive the referral to Specialized Care (SC) São Paulo and Campinas, Brazil. We interviewed 664 women (353 from São Paulo and 311 from Campinas) diagnosed with BC, referred to SC from PHC. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to the identification of associations between BC suspected cases by PHC and the socioeconomic and cancer care variables.

[Care for women with high-risk pregnancies in primary care services in the city of São Paulo, Brazil: the healthcare team's perspective].

The study aimed to evaluate care for women with high-risk pregnancies from the healthcare team's perspective in primary healthcare (PHC) services in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. This is an evaluative study with a qualitative approach that used the open interview technique for data collection from PHC personnel. The data were explored through thematic categories built from the content emerging spontaneously from the interviews, discussed according to Health Work Process Theory.

Breast cancer screening in Primary Health Care in Brazil: a systematic review.

Objectives: to analyze care strategies for breast cancer screening in Primary Health Care in Brazil.

Methods: this is a systematic review following the Cochrane Collaboration recommendations.

Results: among 355 manuscripts, five were eligible.

Notes for the study on health systems: multifaceted analysis and tracer indicators.

Objective: To present the methodological approach used in a research that analyzed the use and performance of specialized health care, from primary care access, in four major Brazilian cities: Fortaleza (CE), Campinas (SP), São Paulo (SP) and Porto Alegre (RS).

Methods: Presentation and discussion of the quantitative-qualitative components of the proposed research strategy.

Results: Four tracing conditions were studied: systemic arterial hypertension, high-risk pregnancy, breast cancer and severe mental disorder.

[Assessment of care for high-risk pregnancy in four Brazilian metropolises].

The study assessed care for high-risk pregnancy, including access, functioning, and use of health services, ranging from primary healthcare (PHC) to specialized care. This was an evaluative study anchored in an analytical model that used triangulation of different information sources and comparative analysis of care for high-risk pregnancy in four Brazilian metropolises. The selected analytical categories were: access to consultations and tests, linkage between components of the healthcare networks and between users and healthcare professionals, and the care provided.

Influence of the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program on health services access and use in Northeast Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program on the performance of primary health care by quantifying health services access and use in Northeast Brazil, based on the population size of the municipalities, on the financial investment in health, and on the number of physicians in the family health teams.

Method: Evaluative research of quantitative nature. Access was evaluated by the population coverage ratio of the Family Health Strategy and use of health services, which were measured by medical appointments conducted between April 2013 and September 2015.

[Prenatal care in high-risk pregnancies and associated factors in the city of São Paulo, Brazil].

This study assessed prenatal care in high-risk pregnancies and associated factors in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. This was an evaluative study of 689 pregnant women referred from primary care (PHC) to specialized care in 2016. The type of PHC model was used as the main independent variable: family health units (USF), basic health units (UBS), and UBS/mixed.

Arterial hypertension as a tracer for the evaluation of access to health care.

This study evaluated the use of and access to different services involved in the care of patients with arterial hypertension in the Public Health System in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil. This is an ecological study that addressed the magnitude, trend and relationships of outpatient procedures linked to the arterial hypertension care Data were retrieved from the SIA/SUS and the Estabsus from the Municipal Health Secretariat, and were processed with PostgreSQL relational database linking the different information by the indicators chosen and analyzed by territories. The statistical analysis were performed by the R program with the trend significance analysis of the historical series of indicators defined and the relationships between them.

Meta-evaluation of a participatory process in the strengthening of municipal management.

Objective: To evaluate, with a focus on participation, an evaluation process developed by municipal managers and administrators of a health region in the state of São Paulo, considering the need for theoretical reflection on participatory health practices in the Brazilian context.

Methods: Qualitative research that used the framework developed by Daigneault and Jacob (2009) to analyze the empirical material, encompassing three dimensions of participation: control of the evaluation process, diversity of participants, and extent of their involvement. We highlighted decisions or contextual aspects that deepened or limited the participatory option in the process under study.

Regional Governance in Brazil's Unified Health System: a conceptual essay.

This article is a conceptual essay aimed at supporting analyses of the regionalization processes implemented in Brazil's Unified Health System, from the perspective of regional governance. The authors conducted a literature review in the social sciences, public administration, and critical geography, focusing on the concepts of governance, territorial governance, and regional governance in the debate on development. In dialogue with these contributions to the analysis of recent regulation and implementation of health sector regionalization in Brazil, with special reference to use of the Organizational Contract for Public Action (COAP) in the country's health regions, the article concludes that the research on governance as a modern approach to linking public policies highlights the timeliness of developing methodologies and critical reflection on the relevant national processes in Brazil for future health sector proposals, thereby pointing to a new stage in the improvement of the Unified Health System.

[Meta-evaluation of a participantory evaluation conducted by municipal health administrators with a focus on "utility"].

This article aims to analyze the utility of a local evaluation process developed by administrators and managers of a regional health office in São Paulo, Brazil, and to discuss the need for a well-based choice of theoretical reference to judge this item in participatory approaches. To analyze the organization of the process, the study used the Patton reference, focused on facilitating participants' use of the evaluation. To analyze the evaluation's influence, the dimensions proposed by Weiss, Greene, and Kirkhart were followed.

[Municipal Monitoring Panel: Bases for building a health service management tool].

Objective: To describe and critically analyze the steps taken and the technical references used to build the São Paulo City Health Department Monitoring Panel, highlighting its potentials and limits for the decision-making process.

Methods: This was a qualitative study based on analysis of official documents and semi-structured interviews with key informants. The data was submitted to thematic analysis aimed at understanding the technical choices and paths taken to build the Panel.

Health Policy on the pages of Revista de Saúde Pública.

We carried out a narrative review of the scientific production in the area of Policy, Planning and Management in Revista de Saúde Pública (RSP), between 1967 and 2015. All the fascicles of RSP, in the period, were accessed via SciELO platform, which provides all articles online. We selected and classified the articles according to the main topics of scientific production in the area of Policy, Planning and Management.

The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program in Northeast: evaluation of hospitalizations for Primary Healthcare-sensitive conditions.

This paper analyzes the increase in professionals in Brazil's Northeastern Region resulting from the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program. The scale of the increase was analyzed through the indicator Hospitalizations for Primary-Care Sensitive Conditions (HPSCs). The method used was a quantitative approach, based on data on distribution of doctors and service they provided in these states, and on hospitalizations for diarrhea and gastroenteritis in the period September 2012 to August 2015.

Evaluation in health: participatory methodology and involvement of municipal managers.

Objective: To analyze scopes and limits of the use of participatory methodology of evaluation with municipal health managers and administrators.

Methods: Qualitative research with health policymakers and managers of the Comissão Intergestores Regional (CIR - Regional Interagency Commission) of a health region of the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. Representatives from seven member cities participated in seven workshops facilitated by the researchers, with the aim of assessing a specific problem of the care line, which would be used as a tracer of the system integrality.

Integrality in cervical cancer care: evaluation of access.

Objective: To evaluate integrity of access to uterine cervical cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment services.

Methods: The tracer condition was analyzed using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach. The quantitative approach was based on secondary data from the analysis of cytology and biopsy exams performed between 2008 and 2010 on 25 to 59 year-old women in a municipality with a large population and with the necessary technological resources.

[Nurses and the assessment in health system management].

The objective of this study was to undertake a critical reflection regarding assessment as a managerial tool that promotes the inclusion of nurses in the health system management process. Nurses, because of their education and training, which encompasses knowledge in both the clinical and managerial fields and is centered on care, have the potential to assume a differentiated attitude in management, making decisions and proposing health policies. Nevertheless, it is necessary to first create and consolidate an expressive inclusion in decisive levels of management.

[Evaluation of the capability of decentralized management of epidemiological surveillance in the state of Bahia].

Evaluative research into the capability of decentralized management of epidemiological vigilance (EV) was conducted in the operational, organizational and sustainable dimensions in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The quantitative approach was used in the construction of a baseline, with primary data obtained through an online questionnaire answered by thirty-eight municipal EV managers. In the qualitative approach to analyze the context and assess the management capability of municipalities in two case studies, techniques adapted to the analysis of discursive practices were used.

[Methodology for construction of a panel of indicators for monitoring and evaluation of unified health system (SUS) management].

This study sought to develop methodology for the construction of a Panel for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Management of the Unified Health System (SUS). The participative process used in addition to the systematization conducted made it possible to identify an effective strategy for building management tools in partnership with researchers, academic institutions and managers of the SUS. The final systematization of the Panel selected indicators for the management of the SUS in terms of Demand, Inputs, Processes, Outputs and Outcomes in order to provide a simple, versatile and useful tool for evaluation at any level of management and more transparent and easier communication with all stakeholders in decision-making.

[The role of evaluation in decision-making in the management of health services].

The management of health services is a complex administrative practice due to the breadth of the field of health and the need to reconcile individual, corporate and collective interests that are not always convergent. In this context, the evaluation needs to have specific characteristics in order to fulfill its role. The scope of this study was to establish the characteristics that the evaluation for the management of health services should have to contribute to decision-making.

[Health care financing, expenditure and supply in great urban centers in the state of São Paulo (Brazil)].

Challenges to implantation of SUS doutrinary and operative principles in great urban centers, have stimulated the developing of strategies focused on cities over 100.000 inhabitants and had raised researches on this setting. This article approaches health financing and expenditure evolution in São Paulo cities over 500.