Fifteen years of the Primary Health Care Reform (RCAPS) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro has become a paradigm for Brazilian Primary Health Care (PHC). How did the city, which until 2008 was the capital city of the country with the lowest coverage of complete Family Health Strategy (FHS) teams, with 3.5% of its population, manage to give access to more than 70% of cariocas (residents of the city of Rio de Janeiro) by 2024? The present study analyzes the main axes and results of the Primary Health Care Reform (Reforma dos Cuidados em Atenção Primária à Saúde - RCAPS) over a 15-year period, inspired by PHC in Lisbon, Portugal. Limits, challenges, and advances are discussed. Our study highlights changes in the organizational chart, the management model, health care by results, and the strengthening of PHC as a network organizer and care coordinator. The feasibility of RCAPS for a large city is demonstrated, with the following limitations: (i) the need to reorganize continuing education processes, (ii) improved communication with the SUS user population, and (iii) insufficient tripartite funding, especially from the state government. Digital Health as an axis for improving communication, expanding access, and greater resolutiveness is today consolidated as management’s greatest challenge.