TelehealthRS project: Supporting teleconsulting with text mining to improve continuing professional development

In the primary care scenario, telehealth appears as an option for continuing professional development. Questions submitted by physicians and their respective answers in the Brazilian health ministry telehealth platform were mined using a text mining tool. Graphs about the concepts present in the database were extracted using this tool, which gave a clearer view of the subjects addressed by teleconsultants. A questionnaire has been given to teleconsultants asking them about the current protocol they follow in their answering process in the TelehealthRS Project. Results showed that the graphs obtained in the mining process can make teleconsultation answering easier. A recorded interview was conducted with nine physician teleconsultants, deepening the first questionnaire topics. Their comments are now being used to guide the implementation of new features of the current Brazilian health ministry platform. This initiative should impact in the accuracy and response speed offered to professionals, improving their training and contributing to their continuing professional development.