Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak exposed several problems faced by health systems worldwide, especially concerning the safe and rapid generation and sharing of health data. However, this pandemic scenario has also facilitated the rapid implementation and monitoring of technologies in the health field. In view of the occurrence of the public emergency caused by SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil, the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System created a contingency plan. In this paper, we aim to report the digital health strategies applied in Brazil and the first results obtained during the fight against COVID-19. Conecte SUS, a platform created to store all the health data of an individual throughout their life, is the center point of the Brazilian digital strategy. Access to the platform can be obtained through an app by the patient and the health professionals involved in the case. Health data sharing became possible due to the creation of the National Health Data Network (Rede Nacional de Dados em Saúde, RNDS). A mobile app was developed to guide citizens regarding the need to go to a health facility and to assist in disseminating official news about the virus. The mobile app can also alert the user if they have had contact with an infected person. The official numbers of cases and available hospital beds are updated and published daily on a website containing interactive graphs. These data are obtained due to creating a web-based notification system that uses the RNDS to share information about the cases. Preclinical care through telemedicine has become essential to prevent overload in health facilities. The exchange of experiences between medical teams from large centers and small hospitals was made possible using telehealth. Brazil took a giant step toward digital health adoption, creating and implementing important initiatives; however, these initiatives do not yet cover the entire health system. It is expected that the sharing of health data that are maintained and authorized by the patient will become a reality in the near future. The intention is to obtain better clinical outcomes, cost reduction, and faster and better services in the public health network.
Highlights
The year 2020 was marked by the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious virus severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2, which created many challenges for the scientific community and health services worldwide
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, forcing public health authorities in all countries to adopt measures focusing on surveillance, rapid case identification, interruption of community transmission, and strong public communication to contain the spread of the virus, mitigate its impact on human health, and attempt to prevent the collapse of health systems [1]
When we examine the COVID-19 cases and deaths reported in the United States, for example, the numbers drop substantially every Sunday and Monday, with case numbers rebounding later in the week
Summary
The year 2020 was marked by the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious virus SARS-CoV-2, which created many challenges for the scientific community and health services worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic is occurring in an era of massive technological advancement, when digital health solutions have been extensively discussed but have not yet been widely deployed and accepted [5] Considering this adverse scenario, at the same time that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deficiencies of health care systems worldwide, it is providing an opportunity to develop and test innovative solutions extremely quickly to strengthen public health measures [6]. In this context, in this paper, we aim to share the Brazilian digital health initiatives that were implemented to mitigate the damage caused by COVID-19.
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