The impact of the economic recession on hospital quality indicators in Tocantins

Abstract

Introduction: Indicators refer to measures used to portray an existing situation, analyze changes or trends over a period of time and evaluate, in terms of quality and quantity, the health behaviors performed. Objective: To verify whether the recession in the Brazilian economy experienced from 2012 to 2018 generated changes in the in-hospital quality indicators of the state of Tocantins. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective documentary study with data with patients admitted to the main public hospitals of Tocantins, located in the municipalities of Palmas, Araguaína and Gurupi from 2012 to 2018, available from the SUS Department of Informatics (DATASUS ), correlating health indicators with financial indicators taken from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) in relation to the variation in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the unemployment rate at national level. Results: About the correlation, it was evidenced in the GDP with the unemployment rate, mortality rate and average cost per hospitalization. The unemployment rate correlated significantly with the mortality rate and length of stay. Conclusion: The scenarios presented during the years analyzed, regarding health-economic development, show the impact generated by the negative performance of Brazil’s gross domestic product in the state of Tocantins.