FPH UI Postgraduate Students Hold “Digital Health Transformation: Challenges and Implementation Strategies” Webinar

Sunday, September 18, 2022, the Postgraduate Student Association (HMP) Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI) held a webinar with the theme “Digital Health Transformation: Challenges and Implementation Strategies”.

The webinar was marked by remarks by the Vice Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs of FPH UI, Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini, M.Sc. “FPH UI as a higher education institution also responds and accommodates digital health transformation, one of which is sharing knowledge through events like this,” said Dr. Ir. Asih in his speech.

Also present as the keynote speaker, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, CHFC., CLU. “Indonesia is now entering the era of health transformation. Data and information technology have a significant impact and are the key to building resilient public health,” said Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

FPH UI graduate student dr moderated the seminar. Ari Irawan Romulya, SpOG, MHKes. The first material raised the topic “The Role of the Private Sector in the Implementation of Health Digital Transformation in Indonesia”, which was presented by dr. Iwan Heriyanto, M.A.R.S., Chief of Medical Halodoc. It was stated that Indonesia currently needs equal access to healthcare facilities. Indonesian people are spread across thousands of islands, but health workers are still concentrated in Java. “It may take 10 years to solve this problem of access to health services. For this reason, the role of the private sector is needed to help solve public health problems,” said dr. Ivan.

Furthermore, Prof. dr. Kemal N. Siregar, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of FPH UI, presented material on the topic “Digital Health Transformation in Indonesia and Its Utilization in the Sector of Public Health”. “Indonesia’s health transformation in 2022 will focus on primary health services and digital technology . Digitalization of health is very important to support primary care and make it integrated,” said Prof. dr. Kemal in his material. An example of the use of digital technology in health can be seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the use of PeduliLindungi for screening and tracing cases.

The last material, “Policies and Challenges in the Implementation of Health Digital Transformation in Indonesia” was presented by Setiaji, S.T., M.Sc., Chief of the Digital Transformation Office of the Indonesian Ministry of Health. One of the biggest challenges in health data is that many health facilities and health applications need to be integrated. “The policy adopted by the government to overcome this is to shift the focus of digital health technology from reporting to service. Health workers no longer need to input the same data in different applications,” said Setiaji. It was also stated that Indonesia was trying to standardize all health data and integrate them into the SatuSehat Data.

This webinar will likely increase public understanding regarding digital health transformation and support the realization of health digitalization in Indonesia. (WR)