An Artifact for Evaluating the Quality of Health Service Providers: Evidence From Brazil.

The aim of this article is to present an artifact for evaluating the quality and performance of service providers in the field of health care: the UNIPLUS Program. To verify the scientific nature of the artifact and ensure that it meets the criteria set by the community and the environment, the premises of Design Science Research (DSR) were used. As this research field lacks empirical evidence, the artifact was tested from 2013 to 2015 with 25 health care service providers from different categories, with an emphasis on hospitals and clinics located in 7 cities in the south of Brazil. This article makes 3 main contributions to the field: (1) the artifact can be applied to any health insurance operator in Brazil and other countries, as it meets the legal norms and requirements established by current legislation; (2) it helps health service providers by generating information that identifies shortfalls and possibilities for improvement for every aspect analyzed in the evaluation process; and (3) it uses the DSR methodology in an evaluation artifact that evaluates the quality and performance of services in the field of health care. The artifact proved to be adequate for the purpose in question, helping to improve the quality of care and institutional performance.

Execução financeira dos blocos de financiamento da saúde nos municípios de Santa Catarina, Brasil / Financial execution of health financing blocks in the municipalities of Santa Catarina, Brazil

RESUMO Foi analisada a utilização dos recursos transferidos de outras instâncias federativas aos blocos de financiamento da saúde pelos municípios de Santa Catarina. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo dos anos de 2009 e 2015. Observou-se que os municípios investem recursos próprios em saúde muito além do recomendado legalmente, no entanto, não conseguem fazer uso integral dos recursos de transferência direta efetuados pelo estado e pela União aos blocos de financiamento da saúde. Nota-se, porém, diminuição expressiva no montante de recurso subutilizado no período analisado, o que sinaliza a melhoria da capacidade de gestão dos recursos de transferência direta.

ABSTRACT The use of the resources transferred from other federative instances to health financing blocks by the municipalities of Santa Catarina was analyzed. This is a descriptive study of the years 2009 and 2015. It was observed that municipalities invest their own health resources well beyond what is legally recommended, however, they cannot make full use of the direct transfer resources made by the state and the Union to the blocks of health financing. It is noted, however, a significant reduction in the amount of resources underutilized in the analyzed period, which indicates an improvement in the capacity to manage direct transfer resources.