Digital Health Services Emerge as New Option to Curb Company Costs

The surge in healthcare costs is expected to be one of the biggest challenges for businesses in Indonesia throughout 2026. With medical inflation projected to reach 15.1%, higher than the global average of 14% and the fifth highest in the Asia Pacific region, companies are being urged to devise new strategies to maintain workforce productivity without overburdening health budgets. Observers argue that a generic approach to providing employee health facilities is no longer sufficient. Companies need to understand disease patterns, healthcare utilisation behaviour, and workforce risk groups to make health programmes more effective and curb long-term costs. These findings are illustrated in the Indonesia Employee Health & Benefit Insights 2026 report released by Halodoc for Business. The data-based report was compiled from over 1 million healthcare service transactions and more than 3,000 ICD-10 diagnoses recorded during the first quarter of 2026, covering over 30 industrial sectors in Indonesia. Halodoc Chief Marketing Officer Fibriyani Elastria stated that the main challenge for companies today is not merely the size of healthcare costs, but how to understand employee health risks more accurately. “A company’s most valuable asset is its human resources. Many companies still manage employee health reactively without adequate data. This report serves as a basis for seeing the real health profile of the workforce so that the benefit strategies developed are truly targeted,” Fibriyani said in Jakarta on Thursday (16/7). The report also shows that the biggest issue for workers’ health is not low awareness, but access to healthcare services. Many workers delay treatment because the service process is considered complicated, causing minor complaints to develop into illnesses requiring far greater handling costs. Halodoc Chief of Medical Dr Irwan Heriyanto MARS explained that the disease profile of Indonesian workers changes with age. Younger age groups more frequently experience acute respiratory infections, whilst productive workers aged 30–49 are dominated by musculoskeletal disorders due to work activity. In the over-50 age group, cardiovascular diseases and cancer become the largest contributors to healthcare costs. He noted there are also risk differences based on gender. As many as 81% of cardiovascular patients are male, whereas 72% of cancer patients are female, meaning the health screening needs for each group differ. Beyond mapping disease patterns, the report found that the utilisation of digital health services can improve company cost efficiency. Telemedicine services handle about 24% of all health cases using only 8% of total healthcare costs, with a case resolution rate of over 95% without requiring a follow-up physical visit within 30 days. Meanwhile, for patients with chronic diseases, the use of the Digital Cashless Outpatient service was recorded as saving healthcare costs by up to 66.4% within 90 days compared to patients not using digital services. Fibriyani assessed that telemedicine is no longer just an alternative health service, but a vital part of corporate efficiency strategy. “Telemedicine not only saves costs but also helps employees get faster treatment so they can return to being productive in a shorter time,” she said. To support comprehensive employee health management, Halodoc for Business has developed a service ecosystem ranging from telemedicine and claims administration management through Third Party Administrator services, to the utilisation of artificial intelligence via the Halodoc Intelligent Digital Assistant. Halodoc Vice President of Insurance Saswat Satadal said AI technology is used to speed up membership verification, monitor medical bills, validate claims, and help companies reduce claims management costs by up to 18%. In addition to digital services, the company provides patient assistance services during hospital care through HaloAssist. This service allows employees to book visits in advance, obtain administrative assistance, and have medicines delivered to their homes after completing treatment. Currently, Halodoc for Business serves more than 1.5 million active members, partners with over 30 insurance companies and 3,000 corporations, and is supported by a network of more than 4,700 healthcare facilities across Indonesia.