SUS for Dummies

Step01 - got your SUS card? No? Get one.

It used to be that the SUS info was only accessible via the "app" but you can access it now (since when??) via the gov.br site.

As for how to get through the bureaucracy, well, my first stop is a person who works in our household. She has it all figured out due to extensive experience. In-other-words, a trusted local person who has had to use the system at every level is sometimes the best guide.

Otherwise, given a special need (illness) your first stop is an UBS (Unidade Básica de Saúde) or for emergencies an UPA (Unidade de Pronto Atendimento) or SAMU (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência)...

I haven't been able to find an online guide to SUS other than what is found on the https://meususdigital.saude.gov.br/ site where info is rather hard to circumnavigate. My data, what is logged there about me, is inconsistent but encouraging (e.g. every time I got a vaccination for COVID I ended up having to go to the local Saúde to get the info added to my oficial record YET some of the prescriptions that I get are mysteriously present).

SUS is a great thing but that also depends on the community that you live in. Where there is heavy use there can be long waits. In other communities folks get quick service.

There's a 320 page report (in Portuguese) on the IPEA site entitled "SUS: avaliação da eficiência do gasto público em saúde," but it isn't a how-to nor is it a consumer's report.

When I asked my wife what services SUS is most competent in here in Paraíba she said: vaccinations, transplants, common prescription medications, emergency services, antitoxins (we have that a lot here).

There are a number of areas listed on the https://meususdigital.saude.gov.br/conteudo page.

mberigan

@alan279

It is like the NHS in the UK - does pretty much everything for free, except cosmetic or elective surgery. You need to register for it at your local town hall or hospital, then away you go.

We have private health insurance, but have used SUS occasionally as you just turn up and take a ticket... UPA's are also pretty good in our experience.

We also have an area health administrator who maintains a Whatsapp group of everyone who lives in her area, and regularly updates everyone.

@Peter Itamaraca

I've had my SUS card for years. And I have the SUS app on my phone. I've only gone to SUS for Covid vaccinations.

I need a minor surgery. My doctor friend said he will schedule it for me, but I'm wondering how SUS works.

Does SUS pay for prescriptions? Dental? Eyeglasses?

@mberigan

I see three Covid vaccinations in 2021 in the SUS app. That is correct. I was concerned about the paper and pencil documentation of vaccinations, but it works.

07/06/24 @alan279.  @Peter Itamaraca gave a good summary of what SUS is, and @mberigan described in general how it works on the ground.

The system is decentralized, so while the services in general are standardized, each state will explain it and administer it in a slightly different way.  As a matter of fact, Bahia where you live has a pretty good how-to site, with answers to a lot of your questions available from the menu on the left side of the page:

https://www.saude.ba.gov.br/atencao-a-s … cionaosus/

@abthree

Thanks, guys. Sounds like I need a grandmother. 😀

Your "prison via WhatsApp" thread still makes me laugh.....

@KenAquarius

I was "interviewed" at the women’s police station on April 18. The interviewer was professional, asking me leading questions that allowed me to tell my side of the story. I signed her transcript of the interview. And I've heard nothing since.

@abthree i made an appointment at my neighborhood SUS today to see a doctor tomorrow.

Progress,  maybe?

Or is that light in the tunnel a speeding locomotive?

07/30/29 @alan279.  Let's call it progress unless something hits you. 🤣

Got my fingers crossed. 🙂

@abthree I made an appointment at my neighborhood SUS clinic and the doctor didn't show up. I called a doctor friend and he said he would examine me, and he offered to make a house call. He didn't show up.

A friend suggested a virtual doctor. Maybe that would be a starting point? Anyone have any experience with an English speaking virtual doctor in Brazil?

Thanks for any advice.

    @abthree I made an appointment at my neighborhood SUS clinic and the doctor didn't show up. I called a doctor friend and he said he would examine me, and he offered to make a house call. He didn't show up.
A friend suggested a virtual doctor. Maybe that would be a starting point? Anyone have any experience with an English speaking virtual doctor in Brazil?

Thanks for any advice.
   

    -@alan279

No advice here - just a wish for you to get well soon.

@Pablo888 Thanks!

My doctor does consultations with me on What's App or Zoom.......unless he needs to see me or I feel I need to see him.

@Gasparzinho 777 How does your doctor bill you?

PIX or credit card if virtual.

@Gasparzinho 777 Does he charge you a fixed price for a consultation, or by time, or by the type of service provided?

It's always been a fixed price whether virtual or in person. We've only really done about 4 online appointments FWIW.

Stated time in the clinic is 45 minutes, so I'd imagine virtual is the same, but, as he's been seeing us for 10+ years that really doesn't matter, nor can I remember any appointment taking that long either. Neither of us has any conditions that require multiple appointments or test reviews, etc, so that's all I can really say.

@alan279 You can also go the the clinic at your local hospital.  My husband has done that several times.  Even without insurance it is very inexpensive.

@Droplover I think I would like to find a doctor that will review my annual blood tests and refer me to a specialist as necessary. I had a local doctor that did this for several years but he no longer has time for private patients in his new position at the hospital. A virtual doctor should work, I think.

@alan279 In the area we live in, Campinas, it's impossible to find a GP.  So it's always seeing a specialist.  By chance I found an english speaking cardiologist who has been willing to order some tests like mamogram and colonoscopy for me.  The colonoscopy I ended up doing in the US.  I prefer a GP who coordinates all the care and only refers as needed.  I've had follow up Zoom appointments with my US primary care while in Brazil.  The problem is of course that she can not write scripts for meds in Brazil.  Health care in Brazil is affordable but complicated if you are not fairly fluent in portugese, which I am not.  Good luck!

I’m making progress with SUS, I think. After three, no, four trips to the neighborhood clinic I have an appointment on Monday to get on the waitlist for a minor surgery.

I met the surgeon today. She scheduled my minor surgery at a private (?) hospital for October 28. SUS will pay.

@alan279

A ”VERY” Brazilian story! 🤪.  Darn bureaucrats…

Seems like good healthcare service to me.

09/27/24    I met the surgeon today. She scheduled my minor surgery at a private (?) hospital for October 28. SUS will pay.        -@alan279

Many doctors work in both the public and private systems, and it seems pretty common for them to shift their patients back and forth based on resource availability, or even their own schedules.  At least that's the case here.  I had two minor surgeries and in both cases the doctors saw me at my health plan's clinic, but one performed the actual surgery at an unaffiliated private hospital, and the other at a SUS clinic where he also worked.  The only noticeable difference was that at the SUS clinic, I had to bring my own bandages.  That was my only out-of-pocket cost.

When my husband's grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, her doctor always saw her at the health plan's clinic, but arranged for her radiation therapy at an unaffiliated private hospital, and her chemotherapy at a SUS hospital.  A little complicated, but the treatment was successful with no out-of-pocket costs.

"A little complicated" well describes the SUS/captured private clinic/public and private hospital.

None of my doctor friends know how this system works.

Could I hire a nurse/intern part time to help me navigate this maze of bureaucracy?

12/16/24 "A little complicated" well describes the SUS/captured private clinic/public and private hospital.
None of my doctor friends know how this system works.
Could I hire a nurse/intern part time to help me navigate this maze of bureaucracy? - @alan279

I bet that you could.  You wouldn't even need a medical professional; a smart college student could probably do a good job as your Sherpa through the healthcare system, setting up and organizing your appointments and so on.  You may even be able to swap some English tutoring for some support in organizing your care, if that appeals to you.  Ask one of those doctor friends for recommendations.