Primary and hospitalar health care: Building a happy marriage

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

We address the potential integration of the Hospital Dr. Fernando Fonseca E.P.E. with the Primary Care Units in its geographical coverage area in a Local Health Unit. We apply semi-structured interviews in order to understand how to best implement this model of local organization in the referred case. We classify the interviews of each unit according to pre-determined criteria and suggest measures to be implemented. Results demonstrate that the hospital is more able to promptly assume a change process towards the new organizational model when compared to the primary care units. Moreover, we reached the conclusion that the achievement of the expected benefits to the whole depends heavily on local characteristics and implementation process. There is the need to invest in key elements such as the maintenance and renewal of infrastructures and in a common information system. Albeit these investments do not assure the achievement of the benefits of an integrated management system per se, they are essential in the process of constructing an unique entity.