Healthkathon 2026: Optimising AI to Strengthen Indonesia's National Health Insurance
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics is now being directed towards addressing increasingly complex issues in the implementation of the National Health Insurance (JKN) Programme.
BPJS Kesehatan’s Director of Information Technology, Setiaji, said that these technological developments have opened up opportunities for processing large volumes of data, recognising patterns, detecting anomalies, and predicting risks. This is considered capable of helping BPJS Kesehatan identify potential risks in JKN implementation while supporting data-driven decision-making.
“The use of AI to detect potential fraud at an early stage is one of the steps we can develop. When risk indicators can be identified earlier, we have greater room to prevent them before they have a wider impact on JKN implementation,” said Setiaji.
The need to deliver solutions to JKN’s challenges has prompted BPJS Kesehatan to open up space for collaboration with the public, digital talent, and experts. Through Healthkathon 2026, these various parties are invited to present technology-based ideas and innovations that can answer real needs in JKN implementation.
Setiaji continued that the use of technology in Healthkathon is not directed merely at producing new applications or technology. Participants are encouraged to first understand the problem they wish to solve before determining the technology to be used.
“Technology will have an impact when it is able to answer real needs. Therefore, I encourage participants to understand the problem they want to solve before determining the most appropriate technology, so that the resulting innovation can provide real benefits for JKN,” he said.
This approach is important because solutions developed within the JKN ecosystem are not only required to work technically, but must also consider security, benefits, and their impact on participants and programme implementation.
“The hope is that this year’s Healthkathon does not stop at the competition and prototype stage, but can produce ideas that are relevant, safe, responsible, and have the potential to be developed into real solutions for JKN. Let us make this activity a space for learning, collaborating, and daring to present new perspectives,” he said.
Healthkathon 2026 has opened competition criteria, namely risk efficiency for participants, health facilities, and employers. Registration is open to the general public and information technology practitioners from 14 August to 14 September 2026 via the official Healthkathon BPJS Kesehatan website at healtkathon.bpjs-kesehatan.go.id.
President of the Indonesian Data Management Association, Alex Budiyanto, said that the use of AI is highly dependent on the quality of the data used. Incomplete, inconsistent, or erroneous data can affect the results of analysis and prediction, so accurate and consistent data management is an important part of developing AI-based solutions.
“We want the use of AI not to stop at the ability to predict what might happen, but also to help determine the most appropriate steps based on data and various possible scenarios. In this way, technology can support more measured decisions, whether in medical services, risk management, or JKN policy formulation,” said Alex.
Alex said that the application of AI in the JKN ecosystem must continue to place human decisions as an important part of the process. AI can help filter data and identify risky claims or patterns more quickly, but final decisions, including in examination and enforcement processes, still require human judgement to maintain accuracy, prevent errors, and protect participant data.
“Therefore, innovation development through Healthkathon is encouraged to use a problem-first approach, namely understanding the problem before determining the technology to be used. Participants need to look at the problem to be solved, user needs, data availability, as well as potential impacts and risks so that the solutions developed are truly relevant to the needs of JKN implementation,” said Alex.