Avaliação da satisfação do usuário na Atenção Primária à Saúde por meio da ferramenta Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Abstract

Introduction: In 2011, the Brazilian Ministry of Health (BMH) launched the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care as a permanent strategy for decision-making by managers and for improving the quality of services at this level of health care in Brazil. However, the Ministry of Health ends the program, in February 2020, bringing important implications, such as the absence of quality discussions with the assessment of users in primary services. It is well known that the users’ opinion and perception about primary care show weaknesses and subjective potentialities of health actions. Quality evaluation, under users’ perspective, makes evident the importance of implementing a tool that addresses this issue. The Net Promoter Score has been a powerful tool mainly used to measure patient satisfaction, which is seen as a differentiator of health care performance. Objective: to analyze user satisfaction at a Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Nova Lima/MG using the Net Promoter Score. Methodology: a quantitative and qualitative research was carried out with mixed methods, using a concomitant triangulation strategy from a sectional survey approach in Nova Lima/MG. 335 users who were approached in person after going through a service at the BHU were enrolled in this study. All studied subjects signed the Informed Consent Term. Data were then collected and the quantitative variables were descriptively analyzed and the qualitative variables were submitted to content analysis. Results: The total Net Promoter Score of the studied BHUs in Nova Lima was 67.3 points, which make it included in the Quality Zone. The best rated BHUs achieved the maximum score (100 points). Four BHUs received the worst evaluation and they belong to the Improvement Zone. While analyzing the content collected from the respondents, it was noticed that BHUs in Nova Lima were well evaluated for the speed and quality of service, reception, location and the infrastructure, in addition to the team’s technical quality. As points that need improvement we identified the lack of education and attention of the team, the exams results delay and the lack of some health services. Final remarks: this research is a momentary portrait taken during a pandemic and it is suggested to apply it at other times to compare its effectiveness, including the decision made by public managers after its results. Our data made it possible to map the strengths and weaknesses of all health units in Nova Lima and we presented it to the managers through training of their respective leaderships. We expect that Nova Lima will take ownership of the NPS tool and continuously implement it, aiming at the benefits of public management and the correct application of financial resources in health care.