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Republic in April , Law No. , also provides for the use of telemedicine during the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. With a more comprehensive wording, the standard understands telemedicine as “the exercise of medicine mediated by technologies for the purposes of assistance, research, disease and injury prevention and health promotion”. Furthermore, the law clarifies that telemedicine is only funded by the public authorities when a service is provided to the Unified Health System (SUS). Law No. ,/ In September , the Presidency of the Republic sanctioned Law No. , to regulate the use of electronic signatures in various interactions, including health issues, directly impacting telemedicine. The law establishes a classification of electronic signatures to be used according to the nature of the document, criticality of the information and level of security required.
It is mandatory to use a qualified electronic signature — previously known only as a digital signature and which uses a digital certificate recognized by ICP-Brasil — in prescriptions for medicines subject to special control and in electronic medical certificates. Other documents related to the doctor's area of activity are valid when signed with an advanced electronic signature — which uses a cor Singapore Phone Numbers Million List porate digital certificate — or a qualified one. The main challenge, however, is to ensure that healthcare institutions use appropriate solutions to perform telemedicine satisfactorily, providing security throughout the patient's journey and protecting their data. Find out more in Law ,/: what changes in the healthcare area and how to adapt Advantages of telemedicine: why it is a trend An estimate by the National Association of Private Hospitals reveals that healthcare expenses in Brazil totaled R$ billion in , which corresponds to % of the country's GDP in the same year.
Of this amount, R$ billion (%) are private expenses and R$ billion (%) are public, originating from the Federal, State and Municipal governments. The calculations are based on data from the National Treasury Secretariat (STN), National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In fact, an OECD survey shows that Brazil is the twentieth country in terms of per capita health expenditure in the world. Spending directly impacts the quality of private and public health services. Who has never heard a complaint about delays in receiving care or scheduling exams and delivering reports? One of the benefits of telemedicine in Brazil is the encouragement of paperless transformation , which aims not only to reduce costs related to the use of paper — printing reports, storage, logistics, etc. —, as well as implementing solutions to make remote care more efficient, without losing proximity to the patient.
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