The scope of this article is to describe management practices in primary health care (PHC) in 49 small-scale municipalities (less than 20,000 inhabitants) in the north of the state of Paraná. The study conducted in 2011 adopts a quantitative approach with the application of a semi-structured questionnaire to 90 managers. The responses in the research revealed that 85.6% had meetings with the team, 77.8% knew about the health goals and indicators for 2010, 73.3% planned actions, 70% staged meetings with the community, 64.5% of the managers discussed the goals and indicators with the workers of the unit, 61.1% knew the health indicators for 2009 and 61.1% conducted evaluations of health actions and services and also evaluated the workers. However, analysis of the results made it possible to pinpoint distortions and/or failings in team and community meetings, relevant participation of the communities, knowledge of indicators, planning, evaluation of teams and training of the managers. The main conclusion is that the managers suffer from poor professionalism and insufficient training.
Health management; Primary health care; Management; Public health; Administration of health services