Background: There are inequities in the provision of oral health care, and a large proportion of the population face challenges in accessing public dental health care options. Introduction: Teledentistry (TD), a new branch of telemedicine dedicated to dentistry, is a potential approach that can be used to overcome these challenges. Therefore, the purpose of this integrative review was to collect information regarding the inclusion of the application of TD tools in the public dental health services. Methods: Five electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Virtual Health Library, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for relevant articles if they reported on original data related to the use of TD in public dental health services. Results/Discussion: Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria and were, consequently, included in the review. Our key findings indicated that TD can be used for training and continuing education of professionals, for remote patient care, to exchange information among health professionals, and orientation. It increases the access to dental care and enables general practitioners to interact with specialties. The benefits include cost-effective health equity services, improve dental knowledge, and reduce consultation waiting time. However, despite the advances made with the use of this technology, there are still some obstacles to overcome, such as limited infrastructure, low levels of motivation and the lack of compliance, professional resistance, and legal and security issues. Conclusion: TD may be very a useful tool for dental public health increasing the quality of the care by improving access, professional education, and patient satisfaction.

Objective: To analyze the trend of scientific production about Healthcare Networks in thesis and dissertations in Brazil. Methods: documental, descriptive and exploratory study, with a quantitative approach, on the published between 2013 and 2016. The data collection was based on the catalog of theses and dissertations of Brazilian Personnel Improvement Coordination of Superior Level, during January 2018. Results: The 190 papers founded were distributed in four main classes: Integrated Healthcare Networks Management; Thematic health networks; Primary Healthcare as network Ordinator; and Professional education in healthcare networks. Conclusion: It is trend in the scientific knowledge production the study of Primary Healthcare as the ordinator of network and its interface with the other levels, the professional education in healthcare networks, the continuing education in health, focused on the healthcare networks management.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the factors that exerted an impact on the experiences of hospitalized patients during the COVID-19 pandemic from the quality and safety perspectives. Method: A scoping review that followed the 5 stages described by Arksey and O’Malley was used. A systematized search of original studies was conducted in 9 databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, BDENF, CINAHL, LILACS, SciELO, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The factors that exerted an impact on patients’ experiences were summarized, considering the perspective of quality and patient safety in health institutions. The factors were categorized using the Content Analysis technique. Results: A total of 6950 studies were screened, and 32 met the eligibility criteria. The main factors that exerted an impact on the patients’ experience were as follows: caregiver/family concern with the patients’ well-being during hospitalization, search for alternative communication and interaction means between the patients and their family, and changes in health care organization. The restrictions inherent to the policy regarding visits and companions exerted a negative impact on the experiences, increasing the patients’ feelings of loneliness and isolation. Negative impacts were also evidenced in the hospital admission and discharge process and in the limitation of treatment possibilities offered to the patients, because of contact restrictions. Conclusions: The factors that exerted an impact on the patients’ experiences permeate communication between professionals, patients, and family members, with implications for health care quality.

Background: Care transitions are complex and can make patients vulnerable to adverse events. Poor communication among clinicians, patients, and their caregivers is a critical gap during these periods of transition. Technology solutions such as platform-based patient-clinician digital health interventions (DHIs) can provide support and education to patients. Objective: The aims of this scoping review were to explore the literature on platform-based patient-clinician DHIs specific to hospital-to-home care transitions and identify the barriers to and enablers of the uptake and implementation of these DHIs. Methods: A scoping review was conducted. A total of 4 databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched on July 13, 2022. Studies involving patients aged >18 years who used platform-based DHIs during their hospital-to-home transition were included. In total, 2 reviewers independently screened the articles for eligibility using a 2-stage process of title and abstract and full-text screening. Eligible studies underwent data extraction, and the results were analyzed using descriptive and narrative methods. Results: We screened 8322 articles, of which 97 (1.17%) met our inclusion criteria. DHIs were implemented using a mobile app (59/97, 61%), a web-based platform (28/97, 29%), or a combination of both (10/97, 10%). The 2 most common health conditions related to the DHIs were cardiac disease (22/97, 23%) and stroke (11/97, 11%). Outcomes varied greatly but were grouped by health care use, complications, and wellness outcomes. The top 2 barriers were lack of interest (13/97, 13%) and time constraints to use the DHIs (10/97, 10%), and the top 2 enablers were the ability to use the DHIs (17/97, 18%) and their ease of use (11/97, 11%). The main conflicting theme was access (enabler; 28/97, 29%) or limited access (barrier; 15/97, 15%) to technology or the internet. Conclusions: Platform-based DHIs could help improve communication, coordination, and information sharing between clinicians and patients during transition periods. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of these platform-based DHIs on patient outcomes.