ICT Health Survey 2015: six indicators you need to know

Online services, information security policy, and tools are among them

Digital technologies are here to stay, and in the healthcare area, it's no different. All citizens often need to seek care in healthcare facilities, and the use of the Internet has brought enormous ease in accessing healthcare services. Many of these places have been adjusting their services and infrastructure to meet the diverse demands of patients and healthcare professionals, offering options such as online scheduling of appointments and access to test results, distance training, electronic storage of patients' clinical history, sending reminders about allergies, sharing clinical information between facilities, among others.

And in Brazil? How do healthcare facilities use information and communication technologies?

In 2016, Cetic.br (Center for Studies on Information and Communication Technologies) presented the results of the third edition of the ICT Health Survey, which investigates the availability and adoption of information and communication technologies in Brazilian healthcare facilities, as well as the appropriation that doctors and nurses make of these tools.

The survey highlighted, among various points, that public and private facilities have increased their presence on the Internet through websites and social media profiles. According to Rafael Soares, coordinator of the ICT Health Survey, the increase in Internet connection speed in facilities is a significant factor contributing to the growth of online presence and digital services offered. The greater number of healthcare facilities accessing the Internet through high-speed connections is a sign of IT infrastructure improvement in the country; however, a closer look at the survey results reveals that this infrastructure improvement does not occur equally across all types of healthcare facilities: there is a significant difference in connection between public and private facilities.

“The increase in connection speed for healthcare facilities has been different between public and private facilities. While public facilities increase their connection through speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps, private facilities invest in expanding access through connections from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps. It is important to highlight that high-speed and stable connections are necessary conditions for the implementation of telehealth systems, for example.

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.