TELEHEALTH IN THE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM (SUS): ADVANCES, BARRIERS, AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES

Abstract

Telehealth represents one of the most expressive transformations in the organization of public health services in Brazil, integrating digital communication technologies into the care logic of the Unified Health System (SUS). The accelerated expansion of these practices, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, exposes tensions between the potential for broadening access and the structural fragilities of the system. This study analyzes the advances, barriers, and implementation challenges of telehealth in the SUS, based on a bibliographic and documentary review of indexed scientific publications and normative documents produced between 2021 and 2025. The approach is qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive in nature. The results indicate that, although telehealth extends care reach and contributes to reducing care gaps in remote regions, obstacles related to technological infrastructure, professional training, and the absence of consolidated regulatory frameworks persist. The final considerations point to the need for structuring public policies that organically integrate telehealth into the Health Care Network. The study contributes to the academic debate on the governance of digital health in the Brazilian public system, offering critical subsidies for the formulation of strategies aligned with the principles of universality, equity, and integrality.