Absenteísmo ambulatorial: mensuração do custo, técnicas para sua redução e consequente incremento da receita na atenção especializada do município de Santa Maria - RS

Abstract

This work sought to estimate the financial value that was no longer transferred and/or transferred to the Municipality of Santa Maria - RS for application in health services, due to the absenteeism of patients in specialized care, in the years 2016 to 2021. outpatient absenteeism due to the patient's absence from the previously scheduled medical appointment, without any previous communication that allows the rescheduling of the service to another user of the system. In this sense and with this objective, monthly reports were issued on the production related to specialized medical consultations that generate financial returns to the Municipality. Such reports were generated through the management software used by the Municipal Health Department, in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and in .xlsx format. Descriptive statistical and time series techniques were used. The survey results, in general, showed that the absenteeism rate of patients in specialized medical consultations has been fluctuating over the years, with a maximum value of 14.9% in 2016 and a minimum in 2018 with 4.9%. That, due to patient absenteeism, out of a total of 156,348 scheduled appointments, 14,659 specialized medical appointments were no longer performed. This leads to an absenteeism rate of around 9.4% with a calculated loss of revenue of R$ 146,590.00. The highest rates were found in the specialties of Dermatology (20.7%) and Ophthalmology (18.8%), while the lowest were in Mastology (5.4), Gynecology (6%) and Pediatrics (6.3%).