A report on efficiency in primary health management, prepared by the Chilean National Commission for Evaluation and Productivity, suggested that the incorporation of information and communication technologies in healthcare is a “key piece” for the health system to address current and future challenges of the sector, El Mostador reports (link in Spanish). Currently, 70% of secondary care emergency discharges are the result of gaps in primary care. The report recalls that the OECD considers technology adoption as a key piece of an efficient PHC system.
Francisco León, deputy director of the National Center for Health Information Systems (CENS), who participated in the study, explained that if Chile seeks to advance in strengthening its primary care, it must be based on the particular needs of each population group, although today the system does not know precisely what these are.
“If we don’t know what the users’ requirements are, it is very difficult for us to deliver what they demand. Technologies represent a huge opportunity to manage all these changes, but for that we need to see this process as an investment and not an expense”.
The study , which was carried out between September 2021 and May 2022, describes that primary health care is the gateway to the health system. Its results were delivered to the President of Chile, with the purpose of offering public policy recommendations aimed at supporting greater coverage, quality, prevention capacity and achieving greater efficiency in public spending in the sector.