Representatives from the Laboratory of Technological Innovation in Health at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (LAIS / UFRN) and from the Municipal Health Secretariat of Natal (SMS) met last Tuesday (18). The group debated the expansion of teleregulation activities for exams in the state capital.

The action is part of a partnership signed between LAIS and SMS in 2017. On that occasion, the group did a pilot of teleregulation activities for colonoscopy exams, which practically ended a queue of exams pending for years in the municipality. “With teleregulation, we were able to shorten this queue and filter with quality who really needed to take the exams, which generated savings for the municipality. Today’s meeting served to discuss the expansion of this partnership, through the realization of new exams through, with the help of the teleregulation platform ”, said Professor Ricardo Valentim, LAIS coordinator.

The remote regulation platform was developed by the Integrated Telehealth Nucleus of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba, an organ linked to LAIS. The nucleus is responsible for implementing telehealth actions in municipalities in both states.

For Evanúzia Dantas, from the Natal Regulation Center, expanding the partnership between SMS and LAIS will enable improvements in the quality of care for patients in the municipal public network. “SMS has had a partnership since 2017 with LAIS to remotely regulate colonoscopy exams, which was our pilot exam, with the aim of improving the classification and the criteria for selecting these exams. It was a very good partnership and it is working very well, where we were able to better assess the real need for the exam for the patient. At today’s meeting, we discussed ways to improve and cover other types of exams, such as endoscopies. With this, the patient is the winner, who will have a more careful examination, starting from the regulation, providing a faster release of the procedures ”, she detailed.