The principal objective of this sub-project is to build a model of utilising telemedicine and e-health (that we call telehealth in that context) by the health team of the public municipal health network. The telehealth network of Belo Horizonte - BH TELEMED has the objective of utilising information technology resources and telecommunication in the health sector, improving primary service assistance of health units in Belo Horizonte, with the creation of a medical second opinion system and a continued in service formation, through the discussion of clinical cases and specific themes among doctors and health professionals that work at Health Centres (HC), College of Medicine (FM), Collective Health Study Nucleus (NESCON), Nursing School (EE) and Scientific Computing Laboratory (LCC/CENAPAD) and linked to the City Hall of Belo Horizonte - Municipal Health Department, Social Policies Department and PRODABEL.

As international partners, we have the North Karelia Hospital District in Finland, the University of Roskilde in Denmark, the University of Bologna and the Autonomous Province of Trent in Italy.

This project was formulated to confront the structural and acting challenges faced by health teams when dealing with the issue of family health, like the professional formation of these professionals, their continued education, the increase of their primary attention problem solving so that the utilisation of the other levels of the health system is adequate to the complexity of the clinical case.

Today there are 14 health centres implemented west district of Belo Horizonte that are connected to the Clinics Hospital of the UFMG (University of Minas Gerais).

The implementation of Telehealth in the city of Belo Horizonte, has as main objectives:(1) the continuous service training of professionals that perform basic level services in the health system, through case discussion, video conferences and broad access to information,(2) improvement basic attention resolution and of the offered servicing, (3) capacitation of the whole health team for the planning process and the monitoring of family health activities.

A Consultation and medical second opinion network system was structured through teleconsulting, utilising the resources of the long distance telehealth, "off-line", for simpler cases and for shared telehealth, "on-line", for more complex clinical case discussion, utilising the sharing of electronic medical records and digitalisation of necessary diagnosed medical images. A telecommunication structuring was made together with the Multicast network, multiplying the project's effective potential related to the involved professionals, as a result of the implemented technology that permits that a teleconsultation or lecture can be done simultaneously in various health centres with that, it is possible to minister long distance training courses and benefit different professionals in distinct health centres, enriching the discussions.
The development and implementation of a teleconsultation management software permits the scheduling, management and storage of information and images of discussed clinical cases, allowing further access for necessary studies, with a message system structured for telemedicine "off-line", discussion groups and access to scientific information.

The clinical team of teleconsultants are made up of 40 specialists of 18 medical specialities and 10 sub-specialities and of 10 nurses from the school of Nurses of Clinics Hospital.

The carried out teleconsultations have been effective in 74% of patients who had their cases discussed and stayed in health centres, avoiding their relocation to the specialised network. 8 % of patients were relocated to immediate admission. The most sought specialities were dermatology, endocrinology, cardiology, pneumology, paediatrics, gastroenterology, and cardiology paediatrics. The average duration of teleconsultation is of 18 minutes and 25% of cases resulted in further use of the method.

This process, besides improving the quality of offered servicing, reached through the qualification of professionals that act in the area, contributes to the organisation of the assistance network, establishing a reference and counter-reference network. This change allows the population to access specialised medical attention which today is living a process of strangulation. The process contributes to the effective structuring of the health centre as a doorway to the health system, making the telehealth project a innovating and efficient mean of restructuring the model of assistance services, capable of being reproduced in the public area, in any dimension.