Digital health in Primary Health Care in Brazil: Experiences developed within the Unified Health System from 2018 to 2022

Abstract

Digital health has advanced worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazil has developed valuable digital health experiences over the past decade. However, comprehensive studies on the use of digital health in Primary Health Care (PHC) in the country remain limited. This study aims to map digital health experiences in PHC within the Unified Health System (SUS) from 2018 to 2022. This exploratory study was based on a bibliometric and spatial-temporal analysis of publicly available municipal experiences in the ‘Virtual Catalog – Brazil, here there is SUS’ of the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats. The analytical categories were defined through a literature review. SUS is undergoing a diverse, accelerated, and complex digital transformation process, with substantial potential for new applications in PHC. There was a significant increase (668%) in reports of digital health experiences related to PHC between 2018 and 2021, with notable representation in the Northeast (85), South (69), and Southeast (68) regions. The most discussed terms included specific types of technologies, primarily related to telehealth. Significant digital transformations in SUS are expected to occur through PHC, necessitating policies to ensure their implementation strengthens and upholds SUS principles.