T

he Health Agency is now inventorying every community health center (Puskesmas) in the capital, in preparation for an online referral system, shared with all hospitals in the city, to offer better services to patients, especially those holding a Jakarta Health Card (KJS).

With the online system, each Puskesmas will be able to refer patients for further treatment to the Cipto Mangukusumo General Hospital as well as private hospitals, if the former is fully occupied.

Health Agency head Dien Emmawati said on Wednesday that after conducting a pilot project at 12 Puskesmas, the agency would apply the online referral system in 32 other Puskesmas as well as nearby hospitals.

'€œThe inventory aims to find out which Puskesmas have an online system to refer their patients to nearby hospitals,'€ she said.

Dien cited, for instance, a Puskesmas in South Jakarta that had been recommended to install the online system in conjunction with Fatmawati Hospital, as it was the closest state-owned hospital to the Puskesmas.

The 12 Puskesmas included in the pilot project were in Kemayoran, Sawah Besar, Tanah Abang and Gambir in Central Jakarta; Taman Sari, Tambora, Grogol Petamburan, Grogol Selatan, Palmerah, Kebon Jeruk and Penjaringan in West Jakarta, and Tebet in South Jakarta.

The online referral system has been introduced to help patients obtain further medical services in hospitals.

'€œAn official at a Puskesmas can sign up a patient who needs to be referred to hospital via the online system, and the hospital will respond by providing information on the doctor that will consult with the patient and their availability,'€ Dien said.

She added that the pilot project had been a success. The Tarakan hospital in Central Jakarta, for example, had managed to reduce the long queues of people waiting to be admitted and receive treatment. Moreover, the hospital could also refer patients to other hospitals if it had no beds available, she said.

'€œWith the online system, patients turn up at the appointed time to meet their doctors or to be admitted at the hospital,'€ she said.

Dien said the agency aimed to have the online system installed in all Puskesmas by the end of the year.

She added, however, that the project'€™s implementation would be undertaken by each Puskesmas.

'€œPuskesmas can now propose their own programs, so they can bid for the system,'€ she said, adding that if a health center spent less than Rp 50 million (US$4,224), it could directly appoint a private firm to install the system without bidding.

Acting governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said Puskesmas and hospitals had been encouraged to develop the online system, especially in aiding terminally ill patients from low-income families who were members of the KJS program.