“Advanced” or “precipitate”? About the Advanced/Open Access Model in Primary Health Care

Abstract The Advanced/Open Access model has been encouraged by managers and valued by Brazilian family and community medicine as a model of clinical management in the Family Health Team. This integrative review article discusses how this technology can qualify or hinder Primary Health Care. Although it helps to promote necessary changes in agendas traditionally focused on programmatic actions, the model has a strong managerialist bias. By disregarding basic premises, its implementation may result in professional suffering and alienation from the territory and integral health care, besides reinforcing the biomedical model and social medicalization. We point out ways for ‘advanced’ not to mean ‘precipitate’, highlighting that an implementation based on dialogue among workers, managers, and users seems more coherent with the literature on Advanced Access and with the national production on Welcoming in the Unified Health System.