First application of the QualiAB questionnaire in the assessment of Primary Care services in small and medium-sized cities in the state of São Paulo

The QualiAB questionnaire involves 65 indicators of health care organization and management. In its first application in 2007, QualiAB was answered by 598 Primary Health Care services from 115 municipalities in the state of São Paulo. The mean performance was 64% of desirable standards. Clustering according to K-means produced three quality groups. Family Health Units and facilities located in municipalities under 50,000 inhabitants were more likely to belong to the best quality group. Focusing on how to organize local health care procedures, QualiAB readily supports professionals and can be included in quality improvement initiatives addressing all levels of management.