YOGYAKARTA – It is confirmed that Indonesia experiences losses up to 100 trillion rupiah because many people have health treatment abroad. Some people still think and consider that health services abroad are much better in quality than in the country. “The foreign exchange going outside according to the World Bank in 2004 was up to 70 trillion. If that was true, we can confirm that this year it can be over 100 trillion each year,” said Director General of Health Ministry, dr. Supriyantoro, Sp.P., M.A.R.S., after the seminar, Annual Scientific Meeting, in the Auditorium of Faculty of Medicine on Thursday (3/3).
Supriyantoro said that most of the Indonesians going abroad for treatment believe that the quality there is much better. The quality here is actually not much different, but health service quality and patient’s safety are still weak. “It’s not that our treatment is poor, but it’s how to improve services,” he said.
Some measures have been taken by the Government in increasing service quality standard for each hospital, one of those is the implementation of international accreditation certificate. But, from among 1,500 hospitals, only four have international standards, one of those is Dr. Sardjito General Hospital Yogyakarta.
On the fact that many hospitals use international label, Supriyantoro said that he would take measures against hospitals that use the word ‘international’ in their name. “There should be no more cases of hospitals using the word ‘international’ as its name, so that patients are not deceived. If a hospital is truly accredited, they should mention the institution awarding the accreditation and how long the accreditation is valid.”
In particular to increase services and safety, Supriyantoro wanted hospitals not to compete against each other, but build coopetition or cooperation. “There should be no competition in health equipment and all, but it’s about how to give good services to patients,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dean of Faculty of Medicine UGM, Prof. dr. Ali Ghufron Mukti, M.Sc., Ph.D., quoting Institute of Medicine (IOM) report said that every year, almost 100 thousands of patients died in US hospitals due to medical error. “Health service is not perfect, patients became victims due to medical errors, ignorance and the weak human resources,” he said.
In Indonesia, in the past five years, malpractices are getting more reported in print and electronic media. Ghufron said that health service management in the country should be reflected upon while preventive efforts should be developed to avoid medical errors.