Avoidable medical references in Porto Alegre health unit - an exploratory study

Medical referrals from Primary Health Care (PHC) patients to focal specialties bring relevant issues to the formulation and administration of health system policies. Detection of potentially preventable routing can enable work process improvements as well as optimize resource allocation. Objective: To describe the secondary references generated by physicians of a PHC unit linked to the Grupo Hospitalar Conceição (GHC), in 2017, and to construct criteria to classify them, discussing their avoidability. Methods: descriptive exploratory study based on documentation. Data were obtained from the GERCON® system (Query Management System of the Municipal Health Department of Porto Alegre-RS)