Geolocation of hospitalizations registered on the Brazilian National Health System’s Hospital Information System: a solution based on the R Statistical Software

Abstract

Goal: present a solution to allow the geolocation of hospitalizations processed together with the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian National Health System. Methods: with the purpose of spatializing the AIHs, a script was elaborated in language R, based on the microdatosus and CepR packages; the script was applied to all AIHs made in the state of Goiás referring to 2015; after downloading and pre-processing the data, the procedure for the spatialization of AIHs was detailed. Results: of the 361,213 AIHs processed, it was possible to extract 24,220 different postal codes (CEP); of this set of postal codes, 23,910 (98.7%) were geolocalized; these geolocalized CEPs allowed the spatialization of 97.7% of the AIHs registered in Goiás. Conclusion: it is possible to spatialize the AIHs with a high success rate; the method detailed in this document opens up a new range of possibilities for the design of evaluative studies, the formulation of policies and the planning of health actions.