With rapid advances in computing power, connectivity, mobility, and data storage capacity, digital technologies offer great opportunity in relation to the delivery of health services.
Better use of data and technology can also help people live healthier, happier and more productive lives by giving them greater control and better access to information and services through digital channels.
However, with benefits there are also risks and many factors that need to be considered from both the public policy and commercial perspective.
The Australian Embassy Indonesia’s Benefits and Risks of Digital Disruption in the Health Services Sector Forum brought together a group of government and industry experts to discuss the issues, challenges and opportunities that face government and the private sector in both countries.
The forum focussed on the accessibility, capability, capacity, and affordability of digital health services in both Australia and Indonesia; and looked at emerging trends and the future of digital health services in the region.
The forum followed recent visits to Australia by a commercially-focused delegation of Indonesia’s leading digital health innovators to the AusMedTech and ANDHealth conferences in Melbourne in May, and by Indonesian Ministry of Health officials to meet with the Australian Department of Health earlier in June.
Australia’s Chargé d’Affairs to Indonesia Allaster Cox said the forum also provided insights into the Australian Government’s policy response and shared lessons learned.
“Digital technologies offer governments scope to improve their own service delivery, including through better assessment of risk in regulatory activities, integration of human services, and infrastructure management,” he said.
“By showing leadership in our own practices, re-designing regulation to enable rather than block the adoption of digital technologies, and mitigate community-level risks where practical, governments can do more than what was previously thought possible.”
The Australian Government has already commenced its road to digital transformation, having two agencies – the Digital Transformation Agency and the Australian Digital Health Agency – dedicated to digitisation of government services.
The Australian Digital Health Agency’s General Manager of Strategic Service Design and Delivery, Mrs Jenny Patton, visited Jakarta in order to address the forum and discuss Australia’s approach to the digitisation of health services.
Mrs Patton was joined by keynote speaker and Ministry of Health Secretary General Oscar Primadi, and the Deputy for Coordinating Health Improvement from Indonesia’s Ministry of Human Development and Cultural Affairs Bapak Agus Suprapto, who both spoke about the Indonesian Government’s perspective in relation to digital and e health.
In addition to public policy, the forum also aimed to answer some of the questions about how to deal with the experiences and expectations of the 21st century patient, bringing together a panel of industry experts. The panel discussion included Dr Luthfi Mardiansyah (Chairman of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Reform Studies),Ibu Tantia Indah (Vice President Alodokter), and Bapak Abraham Auzan (Co-Founder Sehati TeleCTG) to discuss this important issue and how the private sector can work more closely with government to achieve better health outcomes for all.
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