Six Digital Health Platforms Receive Recommendations from the Ministry of Health

Six providers of digital health innovation with telemedicine services received recommendations from the Ministry of Health.

AYU NURFAIZAH

Face view of telemedicine service provider Halodoc via device, Tuesday (4/10/2022).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — At least six organizers of digital health innovation with telehealth services or telemedicine have received full recommendations from Ministry of Health via the Regulatory Sandbox program. The six health platforms will receive guidance from the Ministry of Health.

The six digital innovation providers who have received full recommendation status are Good Doctor, Halodoc, Alodokter, SIRKA, Sehati TeleCTG, and Naluri. This recommendation was obtained after a testing process conducted in the Regulatory Sandbox program for the Telemedicine cluster.

”Digital Innovation Organizers Health that are fully recommended will then receive Foster status by the Indonesian Ministry of Health. "Apart from that, they have the right to use a logo that says Developed by the Ministry of Health in accordance with statutory provisions," said Chief of Digital Transformation Office (DTO) Ministry of Health Setiaji, in Jakarta, Friday (3/5/2024).

Also read: Challenges of Developing Online Health Services, "Telemedicine"

The Regulatory Sandbox Program is an initial initiative from the Ministry of Health to accelerate the startup industry in the healthcare sector. The Regulatory Sandbox Program can be a safe space for the development of digital health innovations through testing and evaluation related to the business processes carried out by startup companies.

KOMPAS/FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN

Residents showcase the National Health Insurance application at the Palmerah Community Health Center in West Jakarta, on Friday (21/10/2022). The Social Security Agency for Health (BPJS Kesehatan) is implementing online registration using the National Health Insurance (JKN) application to facilitate services.

Comprehensive testing and assessment are carried out, ranging from the process and business model aspects to the governance of telehealth services. Through this program, the government, as a regulator, is expected to collaborate with innovators or healthcare providers to analyze risks in the implementation of health technology innovations.

The Regulatory Sandbox Program is an initial initiative from the Ministry of Health to accelerate the start-up industry in the health sector.

Setiaji said that the Regulatory Sandbox program for the telehealth cluster has been implemented since April 2023. The process began with registration, with a total of 61 digital health innovations registered.

Of that number, 15 digital health innovations were selected and chosen to participate in the series of processes in the Regulatory Sandbox program. Out of that number, six of the innovations have now received full recommendations, while the other eight are still undergoing improvement processes.

Also read: Health System Transformation Relies on Data Availability

"This regulation is very important, not only to support innovation in the health sector but also to protect the community, such as protecting them from security issues. The hope is that providers of digital health innovations can also adhere to existing clinical and service standards, including data security," said Setiaji.

Priority cluster

The Chief Operating Officer of the SatuSehat Digital Transformation Office (DTO) of the Ministry of Health, Patota Tambunan, emphasizes that the Regulatory Sandbox program is generally for all digital health innovations in Indonesia. However, the current priority cluster being run is the telehealth cluster.

The cluster includes teleconsultation, telemonitoring, telemedicine, communication, information, and health education. The technology used is remote health services that cover promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative services.

"This process is being carried out for the first time in the health sector with the first cluster being telemedicine. "As we know, the use of telemedicine during the pandemic jumped to 1.5 million users per month," he said.

Patota added that the Regulatory Sandbox program will be expanded to other clusters in the health sector. At least 17 business models have been mapped out in the implementation of the Regulatory Sandbox program.

Also read: Expand Benefits in the Satu Sehat Application

Previously, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated during the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Health and PT Alodokter Teknologi Solusi in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/4/2024), that health technology platforms have great potential to improve healthcare services in Indonesia.

There are at least three opportunities that can be utilized, namely providing easier and more affordable health care education, improving access to health services to the grassroots level, and expanding health care access to families.

"This strategic partnership is expected to continue in providing easily accessible, affordable, and standardized healthcare services for all Indonesian people," said Budi.