THE INCORPORATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE EVALUATION IN BRAZIL: A META-EVALUATION STUDY
Meta-evaluation, Primary Health Care Evauation. Information Technology ..
Despite the ascendancy of evaluations in Primary Health Carewith possibilities for the development of
meta-evaluations, as well as the increase in investments and access to InformationTechnologies, with an increase
in its applicability in evaluationprocesses, mainly for the collection of data and Dissemination of results, so far, are
incipient meta-evaluative studies that show the consequences of the relationships established between
technologies and evaluators in the quality of the assessment.
Using the Scoping Review, the Case Study, and the conceptual structure of sociomateriality, this thesis sought tocontribute to this field of research and valuable practices, evaluating the incorporation of Information Technologyin the evaluation of Primary Health Care in Brazil considering international quality standards. The scoping reviewwas developed following the Joanna Briggs Institute manual tomap the uses of the meta-evaluation of evaluative studies carried out in Primary Health Care. 23 studies,published between 1999 and 2018, predominantly carried out in Brazil, were included.
There was more emphasis on summative meta-evaluations, with a focus on health programs and on the
management of Primary Care, which used the evaluative standards those recommended by the Joint Committee onStandards for Educational Evaluation.
The Case Study had a qualitative approach. 07 technicians from the coordination of the Ministry of Health
and 47 researchers from Education and Research Institutions participated, with a total sample of 54
participants. Data collection took place between July 2018 and July 2019, using interviews, focus groups,
and document analysis. Data were categorized by quality standards using the Atlas ti.8.4.24 software
followed by Bardin's content analysis.
For the case study on data collection, the results showed that the technology made it possible to assess
the national territory; contributed to the operationalization of an assessment with a large thematic scope;
provided resources for field activity management; minimized errors, streamlined and homogenized the
collection; ensured the completeness of the necessary information with a minimum of inconsistency, allowing
the achievement of useful and valid results for the certification of teams, health policies and research.
In addition, factors such as difficulty in handling, inoperability of the system, and lack of investment in
equipment and human resources can represent possible restrictions for the efficiency of the application
of technology in the assessment. As for the study on the dissemination of results, advances were found
in data visualization and the implementation of open data initiatives, enabling its availability to professionals,
policymakers and universities. Challenges related to reporting delivery time, access restriction, reference to
lack of interest, and digital skills influenced the achievement of the objectives expected by the evaluation
proponent. It is considered that the incorporation of Information Technology has the potential to reach quality
standards, providing opportunities for the implementation of more effective assessments, with the production of better results, acting constructively in the process of improving the performance of health and management teams, inducing theredefinition of its priority work processes, to improve and strengthen Primary Health Care.
The thesis is part of the Project “Evaluation of the External Evaluation of the Program for Improving Access
and Quality of Primary Care (PMAQ—AB) do Brasil: a Case Study" partially funded by the Ministry of Health
(MS/UFRN/TED No. 106/2015 and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development
(public notice 09/2018) and approved by CEP-HUOL (CAAE: 84537418.1. 0000.5902).