Health care professionals’ perceptions of coordination between levels of care in two large municipalities in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil

This study aimed to gain insight into healthcare professionals’ perceptions of coordination between levels of care in two municipalities in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. A qualitative study was conducted consisting of in-depth interviews with 51 professionals working in primary care (PC) and secondary care (SC) regarding clinical management and the factors affecting its implementation. The results show that, despite a lack of understanding of the term coordination across levels of care, the importance of and efforts focused on this area are recognized. Lack of communication between PC and SC is viewed as the cause and consequence of problems that hamper the successful implementation of clinical governance across the dimensions of follow-up care, accessibility, and consistency in care delivery. Initiatives to improve communication between PC and SC professionals in order of promoting mutual knowledge, strenghten professional qualification and joint management of cases were not observed.

Keywords
Health care; Levels of health care; Clinical management; Qualitative research