"Background: In 2020, the Unified Health System (SUS) of the city of Florianopolis/Santa Catarina, Brazil, implemented a pre-clinical care service through the use of evidence-based clinical algorithms (EBCA), similar to NHS111 and Portugal's SNS24. The service called Alo Saúde Floripa (ASF) had no similar implementation throughout Brazil at the moment, and aimed to enhance healthcare access while upholding primary care as the coordinator of care. Since then, annual reviews of EBCA have been conducted and adapted to local context. Currently, when a caller reports symptoms, ASF utilizes one of its 355 EBCAs to refer the user to the most suitable service based on their needs: transfer to a self-care guidance; scheduling an in-person appointment with Primary Healthcare Team (PHT); referral to an emergency service, or, since June 2023, referral to medical video-teleconsultation. Method: A descriptive retrospective study was conducted, analyzing data from June 2023 to February 2024, of the total number of services provided, the percentage distribution of referrals to each service, and the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Results: From June 2023 to February 2024, 54.751 calls were answered. Among these calls, 13% ended up scheduled for the PHT, while 7.17% required in-person urgent care, summing up to 20.17% of the calls directed to in-person services. Furthermore, 15.2% were transferred to medical video tele-consultation, 13.15% were given self-care instructions, and approximately 50% of the remaining users did not require the use of algorithms, as they didn’t present with any symptoms. When these users were asked about their intention had they not contacted ASF, 37.6% expressed an inclination towards seeking in-person services to address their needs. ASF achieved an NPS of 89 from responses provided by 20% of the assisted population. Conclusion: The findings emphasize the substantial role played by ASF in referring users to the best healthcare service according to their needs, through the use of EBCA.This reflects on the importance of incorporating evidence-based practices into clinical assessment. ASF also establishes itself as an important tool for maintaining primary care as the coordinator of care, promoting a user-centered experience sustained by innovation.
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