[Research on models of surgical care: the "Simplified Surgery System" program]

The article describes the models of surgical care designed and tested at Valle University Hospital in Cali, Colombia, for the provision of more coverage of patients without detriment to the quality of their care. The program was based on an analysis of preliminary studies done on operations performed in the department of Valle del Cauca. The surgical problems were analyzed by the systems approach, and taking account of the physical, educational and administrative resources and the evaluation of those components. Finally, prototype models have been designed that have been successfully used to demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the coverage of patients by 80% and attaining 90% satisfaction of the patients themselves. Later, one of the models was put into practice at San Cristóbal, Venezuela, with similar results.