ABSTRACT
The use of microcomputers in the Health Information Network will be the foundation of the Brazilian Health Information System that is being developed by the Ministry of Health. The health system in Brazil is one of the sectors currently undergoing a major transformation as a result of the trend toward decentralization. The concept of the Brazilian System of Health Information is based on the general theory of systems; it tries to establish the general definition of the system and its subsystems. The following requirements were taken into account to arrive at such a definition: scope; intersectorial integration; interinstitutional and institutional integration; decentralization; and regionalization and hierarchy. Three levels of probable communication exist between the microcomputer and the mainframe, all of which are obtained from the emulation of the microcomputer: the microcomputer emulated as a terminal; the emulation of a terminal with a link; and cooperative processing. Cooperative processing is the most complete interconnection between the microcomputer and the mainframe.
