Analysis of the impact of legal actions on a reference sector of a large hospital in Juiz de Fora

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the impact of legal actions in the orthopedic sector of Santa Casa de Juiz de Fora/MG. Methods: An analysis was carried out of the medical records of patients who underwent surgery in the orthopedic sector of Santa Casa de Juiz de Fora in the year 2016. Soon afterwards, patients from a judicial action were identified, thus dividing the sample into two groups. The analyzed variables were: sex and age of the patient; time of hospitalization, outcome and costs, which were broken down into: daily, fees, procedures and materials and medicines. Results: The results showed that patients who underwent surgeries by judicial means are mostly elderly, with a slight predominance of males. The largest of the demands is to guarantee osteomuscular lower limb surgeries, accounting for 65.9% of surgeries performed by lawsuit in 2016, which are also the most commonly performed surgeries. The direct cost of surgeries for legal proceedings was estimated at R$ 2,340,301.68. The daily costs were those that presented the highest cost, accounting for 90.7% of the estimated cost. Conclusion: The judicialization in this study exposes deficiencies of the Unified Health System regarding the offer of services, once all the surgeries demanded by lawsuit are already contemplated by the public health system. Thus, the judicial aspects of health, such as: individuality and deadlines for compliance prevail over the collective and those waiting in the queues.