Telehealth in primary health care: a study of activities and time spent by professionals^*

Objective: to describe the telehealth activities carried out by professionals in Primary Health Care (PHC).

Method: descriptive observational study, using time-motion methodology. The sample consisted of 31 Family Health teams, 14 Oral Health teams and two multidisciplinary teams working in PHC. An adapted workload instrument was used to collect the data. A descriptive analysis of the data was carried out considering the total time, average time and percentage of activities according to professional category and telehealth modality.

Results: 632 telehealth activities were observed, representing 2.67% of all activities. The most used modality was voice calls (60.28%). The average nursing consultation time was 4.86 minutes and 6.17 minutes for medical consultations. The greatest number of telehealth activities and time spent in PHC was carried out by the nursing team.

Conclusion: PHC professionals carry out a variety of telehealth activities, predominantly by voice connection, with the nursing team being the most expressive. In addition, the study shows the time dedicated and the distribution of activities, supporting discussions on the planning and sizing of the digital health workforce.

Descriptors:
Nursing; Primary Health Care; Telemedicine; Time and Motion Studies; Health Services; Professional Practice

Highlights:

(1) Telehealth practices in PHC take place via voice connection. (2) The nursing team carries out the highest volume of telehealth activities in PHC. (3) Consultations accounted for the largest share of time and frequency of telehealth activities in PHC.