Territorial dynamics of highly complex health services in the Belém Metropolitan Region, Brazil: is specialized health care subsidized by the SUS?

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the territorial dynamics of the specialized healthcare network, focusing on medium and high complexity care in hospitals in the municipalities that make up the Belém Metropolitan Region. The analysis is based on secondary data from DATASUS available on the National Health Facility Registry (CNES) up to January 2022. The findings show that the private network accounts for the largest proportion of services in the region; however, the service capacity of the SUS is greater than that of the private sector due to the large volume of services outsourced to private facilities via public-private partnerships, with philanthropic hospitals allocating the largest proportion of services to public patients. This should not be confused with universal coverage, as public patient access to private services may be restricted by legal and institutional barriers depending on the form of access (open-door or closed-door).