Equity of Access to Palliative Care Through Telehealth: Experience Report

ObjectiveTo describe the process of conception and articulation of the Care Pathways in Palliative Care in Primary Health Care in the locations served by BP's TeleNordeste project in the interior of the Brazilian Northeast.MethodsExperience report on the process of designing and articulating Care Pathways in Palliative Care for regions far from urban centers in 3 states in Brazil: Alagoas, Maranhão and Piauí, through the TeleNordeste Project of Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa in São Paulo through the Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Institucional do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) in the 2021-2023 period. After pre-operational alignments with health representatives, processes were defined and training was carried out for local teams on the flows and modalities of care available through telehealth, connecting the patient, doctor from the Basic Health Unit and palliative doctor to establish a care plan timely to the needs of patients.ResultsA total 178 teleconsultations were carried out in the specialty of Palliative Care, 124 (69.7%) were teleinterconsultations and 54 (30.3%) were teleconsulting. The median age was 75 years with an interquartile range of 16. Approximately 74,699 miles and 1845 hours of patient time in palliative care were saved. Approximately 29,880 kg of CO2 emissions were avoided.DiscussionThe development of Care Pathways presented an innovative proposal for access to specialized Palliative Care in the SUS, considering the sustainability of the health system and promoting better equity in access to palliative care for regions far from reference centers.