Utilization of hospitals in RI below average<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A comparative study on hospitals in the Asia-
\nPacific region released here on Tuesday indicated that the
\nutilization of hospitals in Indonesia was below average.<\/p>\n
The hospital benchmarking was performed by management
\nconsultancy Prasetio Utomo Strategic and Arthur Andersen, in
\ncooperation with the Ministry of Health. It showed that bed
\noccupancy rates in major Indonesian hospitals averaged 64.5
\npercent.<\/p>\n
This was slightly below the mean figure for the region,
\nincluding Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines which was 65.8
\npercent, Darryl J. Hadaway of Arthur Andersen said.<\/p>\n
The survey, detailing data gained from questionnaires sent to
\nmanagers of 14 private hospitals and 21 state hospitals
\nthroughout the country from June to September, was presented in a
\nhalf-day seminar.<\/p>\n
The survey did not include figures for the number of hospitals
\nsurveyed in other countries.<\/p>\n
Another finding was that patients in Indonesian hospitals
\nstayed for longer, an average of 6.44 days compared to the
\nregional average of 5.5 days.<\/p>\n
Hadaway, the consultancy's Asia-Pacific health care director,
\nreferred to poor management of inpatients as one factor
\ncontributing to the lengthier stays.<\/p>\n
Arthur Andersen's health care manager, Linus M. Setiadi, said
\nthe analysis of the data had yet to be completed.<\/p>\n
According to former president Soeharto's accountability speech
\nin March 1998, there were 641 state hospitals and 1,005 private
\nhospitals at the time for more than 200 million people across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Hadaway said the crisis was no excuse against improving health
\nservices and facilities. Some improvements, he said, could be
\ndone by hospital managers, especially cutting costs. \"Indonesia
\nhas a distinct advantage today on cost of labor...,\" the report
\nsaid. \"This cost is likely to grow and more focus will be
\nrequired to manage impacts of changes here.\"<\/p>\n
\"Bigger hospitals are harder to manage,\" Hadaway said.<\/p>\n
Umar Fahmi Achmadi, director of research and development at
\nthe Ministry of Health, said the hospital bench making was a
\n\"milestone\" to motivate hospitals to improve service and
\nmanagement quality.<\/p>\n
The survey resulted in both a profile of the overall
\nperformance of all 35 hospitals and a profile of each hospital.
\nThe latter was confidential.<\/p>\n
The consultants sent out questionnaires to 90 hospitals but
\nonly 35 returned them. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/utilization-of-hospitals-in-ri-below-average-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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