Dezesseis anos de monitoramento em saúde na atenção primária em uma grande metrópole das Américas

The present article describes the process of institutional integration of primary health care (PHC) performance monitoring in a metropolis in the Americas where 7 million people use the public health care system. Departing from the development, 16 years ago, of the São Paulo City Health Department Monitoring Panel, a PHC Management Panel was developed, providing information on the behavior of a set of selected indicators on this level of care over time. The Management Panel was incorporated into the process of governance reorganization, involving the leadership and technicians at various levels, who were trained in a co-management method with support from the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The experience with the Management Panel was also useful to increase the effectiveness with which the information provided by the Monitoring Panel was communicated, supporting the implementation of changes in the organizational model to consolidate the PCH attributes of access, longitudinality, comprehensiveness, and coordination of care. The robustness of the historical data series and the commitment of the team implementing this initiative contributed to increase the trust of teams in the information generated. The monitoring method captured changes over time and guided those involved regarding the differences between city regions. Monitoring as a strategy enables the swift and timely use of secondary data, which is essential to meet the challenges identified in this health care system.