THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE RELATIONSHIP AND THE MANAGEMENT OF WORK IN STATE HEALTH FOUNDATIONS

Abstract The discussions on the public-private relationship highlight the need to provide public management with more managerial and administrative autonomy, agility and flexibility in strategic sectors of the health care system. The qualitative research that was the origin of the present article had the aim of analyzing the work management at the State-Owned Family Health Foundation of Bahia (Fundação Estatal de Saúde da Família da Bahia, in Portuguese) and at the State Health Foundation of Sergipe (Fundação Estadual de Saúde de Sergipe, in Portuguese), using the technique of data triangulation and hermeneutic-dialectical analysis. Managers, workers and users from both states took part in the study, totaling twenty semi-structured interviews. The contextual factors and the actors were analyzed using a model that emphasized the dimensions of the macro- and microcontexts. The satisfactory performance regarding work management may be attributed to the variety and complexity of the factors faced by the direct administration. The interrelationship of the microcontext with subdimensions of the macrocontext contributed favorably to the implementation of the foundations. As contributions to the managers, we developed a table containing indicators for the monitoring of the attributions of the work management at the state-owned foundations. The results and potentialities of these experiences may help face the challenges to management in health, providing it with more efficacy, speed and solvability in health care and work management in the Brazilian Unified Health System.