São Paulo city health information system--a case report.

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and one of the largest in the world. In 2004, São Paulo City Department of Health decided to implement a Healthcare Information System that would support managing healthcare services and provide an ambulatory health record. The system was designed to build on from national standards that identify healthcare workers, organizations and the relationships among them and reuse as much as possible existing concepts and software. At the same time, the system should reduce fragmentation, not only by integrating existing redundant or competing systems but also by providing a framework in which new modules would be naturally integrated to each other. Today, the web-based system, known as SIGA Saúde, runs in more than 370 healthcare units, processes some 8 thousand appointment scheduling daily and more than 10 thousand high-cost procedure authorizations monthly. This paper profiles the São Paulo City and its needs and describes the project, obstacles and results so far.

The Brazilian health informatics and information policy: building the consensus.

This paper describes the construction of the Brazilian Health Information Policy. The Introduction gives an overview of the health informatics scenario in the country and the motivation for the definition of a national policy for the area. The process adopted and the strategies to reach consensus among the different players of the healthcare arena are discussed. The interface with the national health card project and the standards already established are also depicted. The current document and the strategies so far proposed are presented with their respective time table and goals. At the end, a comparison with other national initiatives is drawn.