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View all search resultsPlanned overhaul of hospital referral system brings hope to patients
The upcoming policy would allow community health centers (Puskesmas) to send patients directly to hospitals best equipped to treat them, cutting out multiple intermediate steps that often delay care.
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Patients wait in long queues on Sept. 16 at a hospital registration counter in a public medical facility in Jakarta. (Courtesy of/Shutterstock)
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s if suffering through a severe depressive episode was not difficult enough, Annisa Pratiwi, a 29-year-old freelance writer from East Jakarta, recalls enduring a long queue at her local community health center (Puskesmas), only to learn that the center did not have the medication required for her condition.
On another occasion, during a suicidal episode, she went straight to a national hospital without a referral, but was turned away because the psychiatric ward was full.
“Mental health conditions are unpredictable, and sometimes you need medical attention immediately. It would really help people like us to be able to go straight to the right medical facility without having to wait so long,” she said on Monday.
Annisa is one of the National Health Insurance (JKN) policyholders who welcome the government’s plan to overhaul the JKN referral system, saying it is long overdue. The upcoming policy would allow Puskesmas to send patients directly to hospitals best equipped to treat them, cutting out multiple intermediate steps that often delay care.
The plan was outlined by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission IX, overseeing health, last Thursday, as part of wider reforms aimed at improving both service quality and the financial sustainability of the JKN program.
“We will shift the hospital referral system to a competency-based model, which will also lower the costs paid for by BPJS Kesehatan,” Budi said, referring to the Healthcare and Social Security Agency managing the JKN scheme.
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