A main obstacle of the healthcare system in Brazil involves its reliance on treatment rather than preventative measures, as we learned in our visit to Hospital Sao Paulo. In addition to the behaviour of many Brazilians that attend the hospital for common and non life threatening issues such as the cold, a headache, or a stuffy nose, these obstacles cause substantial stress on an already underfunded and overwhelmed system. Currently, Hospital Sao Paulo is engaging in business process reengineering to solve its issues to create more effective workflows, to improve patient results, and to reduce costs. Their efforts in the past couple years since a management change to the SPDM have proven to be successful as they’ve finally begun operating without running a deficit. Similarly, the Canadian system experiences several of these issues. Wait times are long, there is difficulty finding a family doctor, and critical operation wait times are lengthy. Our healthcare system should look into how HSP was able to begin the work in providing better care for their community.
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