Institutional changes and innovations in internal auditing of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS): Auditors’ perceptions and institutional capacity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyzes how auditors from Brazil’s National Department of Audit of the Unified Health System within the federal government perceive a recent change agenda aimed at adopting dialogical governance mechanisms. The study is based on a voluntary, non-probabilistic online survey conducted between October and November 2024 as an institutional baseline for monitoring and evaluation. From a population of 435 eligible auditors, 324 responded to the questionnaire and 247 fully completed question-naires were included in the analysis (56.8% of the eligible population). Results were presented as relative frequency distributions and organized as indicators to be reapplied annually. Responses suggest a relevant willingness among auditors to adopt a more dialogical and results-oriented audit model, combined with perceived constraints on implementation conditions and cautious expectations regarding the sustain-ability of change. The baseline provides a transparent starting point to track the trajectory of institutional changes over time and to identify enabling factors and potential veto points.