The Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (BIREME/PAHO/WHO) presented the project of the new Formative Second Opinion (SOF, from the original name in Portuguese) during the 11th Brazilian Congress of Telemedicine and Telehealth (CBTms), held from April 11 to 14, 2024, at the Goiânia Convention Center. The project is part of the BIREME 2023-2025 Strategy, which aims to promote the digital transformation of the information products and services of virtual health libraries.
At the congress, experts in telemedicine and telehealth discussed advances and challenges in the field. Chaired by Dr. Alexandre Chater Taleb, the event included the 2nd National Telehealth Forum, promoted by the Secretariat for Digital Health Information and Health (SEIDIGI/MS). Topics such as teleconsultation, telemonitoring, teleeducation and teletriage were discussed, with an emphasis on patient data security and appropriate legislation to ensure quality of service. The expansion of telehealth centers was highlighted, increasing from 10 to 24 centers between 2023 and 2024, with the goal of reaching 35 centers by the end of 2025. Interoperability between centers and the importance of digital literacy were considered key issues for the success of telehealth.
Ana Cyntia Baraldi, Advisor for Partnerships and Special Projects at BIREME, participated in a panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health on April 13, presenting the New SOF project as a clinical decision support tool. The development is carried out in technical cooperation with the Department of Monitoring, Evaluation and Dissemination of Strategic Health Information (DEMAS) of SEIDIGI/MS. On this occasion, she shared the results of studies conducted over the past year to incorporate AI into the new SOF.
The SOF is an information product developed from teleconsultations conducted by Telehealth Centers (NT). Its main objective is to support primary care professionals in making decisions based on the best available scientific evidence. The primary goal of the New SOF project is to improve decision making by providing accurate and detailed information for health interventions.
The Congress was also attended by Juliana Sousa, Supervisor of Digital Solutions and Emerging Technologies at BIREME. On this occasion, the BIREME team held a technical meeting to discuss the organization of the Scientific Committee for the new SOF project, with the invitation to Dr. Alexandre Chater Taleb to lead it. The committee will be divided into working groups focused on updating, producing and publishing the SOF, in addition to creating a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure standardization of actions.
For Ana Cyntia Baraldi, the presentation of the New Formative Second Opinion project by BIREME at the 11th CBTms represents an advance in the digital transformation of products and services developed in cooperation between the organization and the Brazilian Ministry of Health to strengthen primary health care. “With the integration of innovative technologies, BIREME is advancing in the necessary digital transformation so that products and services are able to translate information into health actions, generate impact at the local level, and contribute to the reduction of inequalities. These are strategic priorities for BIREME and PAHO to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda,” she emphasized.