Impact of the new abilities of the family doctor: coordination of cares at the hospital and management of chronic patients at home

DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.200933.1.15

Abstract

The one who treats sick persons in the hospital is the same that treats them in the doctor’s office or the patients’ house? Is there a difference
for the patient to have the same doctor taking care of them in different situations? Which characteristics must a doctor has to better treat sick persons
in the hospital or the house? To present doctors characteristics in dealing with patients in the hospital and the house is the primordial aim of this article.
To demonstrate these characteristics, we will describe the experience of the Family Doctor of SOBRAMFA – Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina de Família
(Brazilian Society of Family Medicine) in patients’ house and the hospital settings. In the hospital context the coordination of cares and a better quality in
assistance is: helping the communication among medical specialists, adapting to different contexts, negotiation for discharge and familiarity to longitudinal
care giving. In the house context, besides specific attributes to the family doctor and an adequate methodology for doing visits, factors that contribute to
improve the capacity to solve problems are ability to work in teams, management of the family and systematization and organization of the program. The
abilities of communication and adaptation to the different settings of care, together with the capacity to deal with multidimensional problems, required
from a good generalist, are ever more necessary in health assistance. Due to possessing them and being engaged with patients, the family doctor not only
becomes a vital participant in the ambulatory context but also in the task of organizing cares given in the hospital and the house.