An unprecedented initiative by Saúde Digital Brasil, it provides an overview of the telehealth usage scenario in the country based on real data collected from members. The pilot project was presented in São Paulo last week during the APM Global Summit
Saúde Digital Brasil presented its Indicators Panel pilot project for the first time during the Global Summit – Telemedicine & Digital Health APM 2023. The initiative, unprecedented in Brazil, is a milestone in the sector, providing a scenario of the use of telehealth in the country, based on exclusive data from its members. The objective is to understand the epidemiological profile of patients and usage patterns and, at the same time, ensure the accuracy, transparency, quality and security of data in accordance with the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).
“There is no easily accessible consolidated data in the world. This dashboard, therefore, will help to better understand how digital health is being carried out in our country”, highlighted Carlos Pedrotti, president of Saúde Digital Brasil.
Coordinated by the entity's Indicators Working Group, the initiative is a partnership with Controllab and aims to unify the collection of information in a homogeneous manner and transform it into knowledge for society, managers, health professionals and the scientific community. Members will have access to their data and consolidated information in anonymized manner, enabling a benchmarking with other players of the sector.
Initially, the idea is to provide volumetrics and more business intelligence. In the future, it should evolve into a management dashboard. Thus, already in the pilot phase, the dashboard provides indicators such as total volume of services, total, per month and per week; by specialty; by ICD; by payer source; by entry point; by region; age group; by gender; in addition to the average service time and the average waiting time.
According to Lucas Amâncio, deputy coordinator of the Digital Health Indicators Working Group in Brazil and medical supervisor at Teladoc Health, in this first phase, the collection of information was based on the premise of data privacy and security in full compliance with the LGPD. Six companies participated in the process, sharing the data extracted between April and June of this year.
“The project’s potential is immense, especially considering that Saúde Digital Brasil currently brings together the country’s largest players. The pilot results confirm this statement, showing impressive numbers even with a modest sample. In just three months, with data from only six companies participating in the pilot, we surpassed the one million service mark. In addition to directly benefiting our associates with the valuable benchmarking tool for strategic decision-making, the project will have a significant impact on the sector and Brazilian society, especially influencing discussions on public health policies,” said Michele Alves, executive manager of Saúde Digital Brasil.
Even with a sample size smaller than the sector and the project, the numbers show the high adoption and resolution rate of telehealth, which according to the pilot data is 95.7%. There were more than 1,250,620 synchronous and asynchronous consultations, 156,678 exams requested and 583,940 prescriptions originated from them. General practice (71,65%) is the specialty that by far provides the most services through digital means, followed by pediatrics (5,91%) and gynecology (4,57%). Regarding the types of professionals, 53,12% of the consultations were performed by physicians and 41,67% by psychologists.
“This initiative, although embryonic at this time, will grow and help us understand the scenario and quality of services provided today in Brazil and Latin America”, highlights Lídia Agia, coordinator of the Digital Health Indicators WG Brazil, epidemiologist and analytics consultant at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein.
Understanding the relevance of the dashboard for the sector
In addition to the presentation of privacy and security policies and the results obtained so far, experts came together to discuss the numbers and the importance of the dashboard for the health sector. The debate, moderated by Carlos Pedrotti, included the participation of Wilson Shcolnik, advisor to Saúde Digital Brasil and corporate manager of institutional relations at Grupo Fleury; Guilherme Weigert, advisor to Saúde Digital Brasil and CEO and Co-Founder of Conexa Saúde; and Caio Soares, vice president of Saúde Digital Brasil and Chief Medical Officer at Teladoc Health.
The consolidation of data and its sharing with society is, according to Shcolnik, a condition sine qua non for any mature sector. In the case of Digital Health, which is a maturing segment, this initiative is even more important, especially to highlight its potential to contribute to the health system in general. After all, it is an opportunity to highlight indicators that may not be receiving due attention within providers and, in this way, improve internal practices.
“Despite the long road ahead, we are talking about a great opportunity for digital health in Brazil. I believe that this platform can and should be brought to international attention, as this data is still invisible to the market. I see a wonderful future ahead. This launch represents a milestone in the growth of digital health in Brazil,” reinforces Shcolnik.
For Weigert, from a practical point of view, the creation of the panel emerges as an opportunity to contribute to the adoption and improve the model so that it can be even more accessible, efficient and, most importantly, become the desired objective of all stakeholders.
“We are experiencing a system full of challenges, and in digital healthcare the challenge is to provide quality access. And when we think about who should adopt this service, there needs to be a mix. It’s no use the patient liking it if the operator doesn’t offer the service,” emphasizes the CEO and Co-Founder of Conexa Saúde.
When asked about the numbers and the predominance of general clinic services, the executive also believes that there is an even greater opportunity in specialties, especially in supplementary health, and also in benchmarking among players in the sector and with other countries. “We are eager to do more and counting on everyone's participation to achieve this,” emphasizes Weigert.
For Soares, the journey is just beginning, but without a doubt a very important step has been taken and the number of new opportunities is incalculable. He emphasizes that this launch represents the filling of an important gap in terms of transparency, including highlighting aspects that can help improve operational efficiency, provide more assertive decisions and direct investments in resources and people.
“How many times during the pandemic have we been asked about the growth of telemedicine and we didn’t have the answer. This was the first major driver of this initiative. It wasn’t easy to get to this point and we still have to overcome barriers of inconsistency, privacy and collection, bringing security to this information. But we can’t deny that it is an impactful and pioneering work, just like the launch of our Good Practices Manual”, highlighted the vice president of Saúde Digital Brasil.
Regarding the challenges, Pedrotti added that dealing with uniformity and standardization is also complex. “Each company has its own way of storing data. Translating it into a standardized, anonymized, useful model that can safely prevent identification of who the data belongs to continues to be a barrier. However, the moment we start to standardize, the company will have even better solutions.” insights, in addition to the chance to see how the market is acting”, concludes the president of Saúde Digital Brasil.
