(Im)possibilities of implementing an unified health services management in the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) in a large municipality: the case of São Paulo city, Brazil

Abstract

The construction of a unified health management is a challenge to the local Brazilian National Health System (SUS) management, especially in large cities. This article analyzed the implementation process of the SUS in the city of São Paulo. Its objective was to identify strategies to implement the unified health management, in the period from 2001 to 2008. The method used was a case study and data collection was based on management documents and interviews. The concept of health services integration was used as analytical category. Movements and strategies of the SUS institutional actors in the city of São Paulo were analyzed. Institutional improvements were observed, like the municipalization of the state healthcare centers and the qualification of São Paulo in the full management of the municipal health system. Despite this SUS management status and the political party identity that has been occurring between state and city governments since 2005, there were two separate public health subsystems with litle integration between them: the municipal one, which concentrated the primary healthcare services, and the state one, concentrating most of the secondary and tertiary health services. The management tools used, such as the regulation system, proved to be fragile to overcome the lack of integration between those health subsystems. As the implementation of a unified health management in SUS implies a (re)division of resources and power, rules and management tools are not enough to make it feasible. Implementing a negotiation process between the institutional and political actors involved in a common political project in health is a strategic challenge.