T

he country is at risk of being unable to cater for the growing domestic demand for health care, as most of hospitals in the nation have yet to meet necessary service-quality requirements for patients.

Health Ministry data showed that there are only 308 hospitals or equal to 20.8 percent of total hospitals nationwide that have been accredited by the National Hospital Accreditation Committee (KARS) since 2012, which was when the accreditation measure was introduced to raise service quality.

The accreditation measures hospitals by more than 1,200 variables before they can be considered qualified. Many hospitals, mostly those controlled by the government, regard the process as convoluted, making them reluctant to apply for the accreditation, Deloitte risk advisory manager Zamzam N Djaelani says.

“State-run hospitals also struggle to properly file their documents required for the accreditation. They are not as good as private hospitals in terms of file management,” Zamzam told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

A 2012 Health Ministry regulation stipulates that to ensure a hospital’s quality it must be accredited by KARS. Hospitals are also encouraged to apply for the international accreditation standard overseen by Joint Commission International (JCI).

The Health and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which manages the National Health Insurance (JKN) program, also requires hospitals wanting to implement the insurance to have the national accreditation.

Analysts have estimated that the country’s healthcare expenditure will rise rapidly as a result of a surging middle class, who demand quality health services, as well as JKN implementation nationwide.

Research firm Frost and Sullivan forecasts that the country’s healthcare expenditure is slated to increase to 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), reaching US$50.8 billion in 2020, partly because of the growing middle class population who have increasing spending power to fulfill their healthcare needs.

Global Growth Markets (GGM) also estimates that the JKN, which was introduced in 2014 and is expected to cover all citizens by 2019, is the main catalyst of the expected rising demand for good health care.

GGM noted that, prior to JKN implementation, only 59 percent of the country’s population was covered by health insurance. As the government requires all hospitals to serve JKN patients, there will be 89 million low-income people having their expenses covered by the national health insurance.

Indonesian Hospitals Association (Persi) chairman Kuntjoro Adi Purjanto said hospital accreditation was important, as the country’s healthcare industry would improve only if hospitals were able to cater to citizens’ expectations.

Kuntjoro added that several past hospital incidents, such as malpractice and the rampant use of counterfeit vaccines, had occurred because of the lack of awareness by hospitals of abiding by the accreditation system’s values.

In June, the National Police uncovered the use of counterfeit vaccines in numerous hospitals in the Greater Jakarta area, creating shock waves across the nation especially among parents who learned that hospitals where they had their children vaccinated were on the list.

“Criteria stipulated in the accreditation are all about patient safety,” Kuntjoro said.

He said it was better for a hospital to take two or three years to make preparations before applying for accreditation, instead of hastily undertaking the process to establish their reputation.