Teleconsultation at primary health care in north of Minas Gerais: scenario and factors associated with its non-utilization by physicians

Abstract

This paper aims to describe the scenario and to identify factors associated with non-use of teleconsultation by primary care physicians in the macrorregião Norte de Minas Gerais (Northern macroregion of Minas Gerais), Brazil. This study is a cross-sectional one. For data collection, a self-administered questionnaire was fill in by the health managers working in all the municipalities of that macroregion; it was previously tested through some of those professionals. The Poisson regression with robust variance was used after bivariate analyzes to identify factors associated with non-use of teleconsultation.To participate in the study 86 municipal health managers were invited. Important structural barriers to teleconsultation implementation were identified: lack of computers with access to internet in basic health units (76.7%) and poor internet connection quality (16.3%). After multiple analysis, only the lack of motivation strategies by the health managers was associated (p<0.007; PR=2.19; IC95%:1.24-3.86) with non-use of teleconsultation by physicians. The results reinforce the role played by the health manager in promoting the use of teleconsultation service in primary care.