Ana Carolina Maia

Cost-benefit of the telecardiology service in the state of Minas Gerais: Minas Telecardio Project

BACKGROUND Telecardiology is a tool that can aid in cardiovascular care, mainly in towns located in remote areas. However, economic assessments on this subject are scarce and have yielded controversial results. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cost-benefit of implementing a Telecardiology service in remote, small towns in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. METHODS The study used the database from the Minas Telecardio (MTC) Project, developed from June 2006 to November 2008, in 82 towns in the countryside of the state. Each municipality received a microcomputer with a digital electrocardiograph, with the possibility of transmitting ECG tracings and communicating with the on-duty cardiologist at the University hospital. The cost-benefit analysis was carried out by comparing the cost of performing an ECG in the project versus the cost of performing it by patient referral to another city. RESULTS The average cost of an ECG in the MTC project was R

A relação entre estrutura ocupacional e acesso a plano de saúde no Brasil: uma análise para 1998 e 2003

28.92, decomposed into R

Diferenciais de utilização do cuidado de saúde no sistema suplementar brasileiro

8.08 for the cost of implementation and R

Societal Preferences for EQ-5D Health States from a Brazilian Population Survey

20.84 for maintenance. The cost simulation of the ECG with referral ranged from R

DEMANDA POR PLANOS DE SAÚDE NO BRASIL

30.91 to R

O RISCO MORAL NO SISTEMA DE SAÚDE SUPLEMENTAR BRASILEIRO

54.58, with the cost-benefit ratio being always favorable to the MTC program, regardless of the type of calculation used for referral distance. The simulations considered the financial sponsors and societys points-of-view. The sensitivity analysis with variation of calibration parameters confirmed these results. CONCLUSION The implementation of a Telecardiology system as support to primary care in small Brazilian towns is feasible and economically beneficial, and can be used as a regular program within the Brazilian public health system.

Estrutura de mercado do setor de saúde suplementar no Brasil

This paper aims to describe health insurance coverage among different types of workers in Brazil. Health insurance coverage and labor market insertion are used to define homogeneous groups of workers. The Grade of Membership method is used to build a typology of workers. The database was the Brazilian National Household Survey (PNAD) for 1998 and 2003, including a health survey. Five worker profiles were defined. The key variables were: health insurance coverage, schooling, and work status. The main findings show a positive association between health insurance coverage, income from work, and trade union membership.

Estrutura de concorrência no setor de operadoras de planos de saúde no Brasil

This paper investigates the existence of differentials of healthcare utilization between private and non private insured individuals using a counter-factual analysis. We estimate healthcare utilization for 1998 and 2003. Two variables of healthcare utilization have been selected: medical visits and the number of inpatient days. The main findings suggest a positive differential of utilization for private insured individuals. The magnitude of these differentials varies across types of medical care. Considering medical visits we found that each individual in the private sector uses 25% more services than if they only have access to healthcare services through public sector and for inpatient days this percentage is lower, around 10%.We use three different procedures to deal with the endogeneity of private insurance decision. Our findings are very robust and in accordance with international empirical evidence.