Telemedicina na pandemia da COVID- 19 integrada a auditoria em uma operadora de saúde

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze indicators resulting from telemedicine in a digital outpatient clinic integrated with an audit of the Covid-19 pandemic in a healthcare provider. METHODS: Quantitative cross-sectional study carried out from May 2020 to December 2021, within the scope of Supplementary Health in a Health Operator in southeastern Brazil. The population was made up of records of telemonitoring visits from the digital outpatient clinic. Secondary data was used from various documents, the institution's information system to obtain data relating to services provided by telemedicine, Consumer Service, management and audit reports. The project was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee. The data were analyzed according to descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS Statistics (IBM®) software, meeting the objectives outlined RESULTS: Sample consisted of 450 patients, totaling 1,126 visits via telemedicine, of which 1050 had a mild clinical condition, 688 were kept under monitoring home, 33 were admitted to the infirmary, 9 to Intensive Care and 5 died. In terms of costs, the 1,126 services via telemedicine resulted in a reduction in care costs of an average of 22% compared to the combined costs of care that could have occurred in emergency and/or urgent care locations. CONCLUSION: This study found that telemedicine enabled follow-up of patients treated at various levels of care complexity, the majority of cases presented mild clinical conditions, enabling remote monitoring at home, low rates of hospital admissions and deaths, suggesting efficiency in the process. There was a reduction in costs when care is provided via Telemedicine compared to conventional emergency care.