[The hospital bed referral center under the Unified National Health System in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil: the case of hospitalization for ischemic heart disease].

The hospital admissions center in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, aims to assure fast, timely, and equitable access to hospitalization services through the Unified National Health System. However, many patients are admitted directly to the hospitals, without going through the admissions center. This study compared the characteristics of hospitalizations in Belo Horizonte in 2002 according to type of access. All admissions for acute myocardial infarction and acute coronary disease were included. Of 3,705 admissions, 24.9% were processed through the hospital admissions center and 75.1% through direct access. Direct hospitalizations were more common as compared to processing by the hospital admissions center for patients>70 years), those with presumptive diagnosis of acute coronary disease, to the surgical department, and on weekends. Admissions via the hospital admissions center were more common than direct access for patients residing outside Belo Horizonte, at non-public hospitals, and for the intensive care unit. Length-of-stay also varied according to type of access. The results confirm differences in the characteristics of admissions according to the two types of access.