E-health in Rio de Janeiro state - Brazil: Promotion and education in primary attention to health

Introduction

 The E-Health Project of the Rio de Janeiro State is a part of the E-Health Brazilian Program, supported by the Ministry of Health, which aims the implementation of actions using the technologies of information and communication, for the constant education, as well as for the second opinion for Family Health Medical Groups. Such Project was launched, in the State, in April of 2008 and it aims the introduction of 100 Unities of E-Health with the intention of covering around 3.840.720 habitants, totalizing around 24.67 % of the State population.

Objectives
·        Integration, using the Internet, between the Unities of E-Health, implanted in the municipal districts of the State, and the State Nucleus of E-Health, installed in the E-Health Laboratory of the State University of Rio de Janeiro;
·        Digital inclusion of professionals of the Family Health Medical Groups;
·        Constant education in Primary Attention to Health;
·        Structuring of a net of second opinion.

Methodology
Use of webconferences for constant education and discussion of priority subjects in public health, online courses and electronic formularies for educational second opinion.

Results
The current state of development includes 59 municipal districts connected with 60 E-Health implanted unities, with activities in the areas of Medicine, Nursing and Dentistry.

Conclusion
The E-Health Project has presented itself as an important instrument of support in the Family Health Strategy, with consequent improvement of the population attendance and reduction of dislocations costs.