New grading for hospitals: Sujudi
New grading for hospitals: Sujudi
SURABAYA (JP): The government is introducing an accreditation system for hospitals in order that the public may be better informed about the quality of their facilities.
Minister of Health Sujudi said accreditation would be given to hospitals that have attained certain medical and administrative standards.
"Accreditation will indicate government approval for a hospital. It will also serve as a long-term, continuous program aimed at improving the quality of hospitals," Sujudi said at the launching of the Adi Husada Kapasari hospital on Friday.
The accreditation agency will assess five aspects of hospitals: administration and management; medical services; treatment services; emergency care; and medical records.
Sujudi declined to give details of the plan but said a pilot project for the accreditation program will be carried out on ten hospitals.
The accreditation system will be in addition to the hospital rating system already in use. Under the rating system hospitals are placed into one of four categories, according to their location and facilities. The highest category is Class A. Only hospitals located in provincial capitals can come within classes A or B.
Four hospitals currently enjoy an A rating: Cipto Mangunkusumo in Jakarta, Dr. Soetomo in Surabaya, Adam Malik in Medan and Wahidin in Ujungpandang, all of which provide education and the most complete range of health services available in the country.
Class C is for hospitals located outside provincial capitals which provide at least four basic services: maternity care, childcare, surgery and internal disease treatment. They must also have X-ray, laboratory, anesthetic and other facilities.
Class D, which comprises most of the country's hospitals, have the least facilities.
Need
Sujudi said that more than 100 Class D hospitals were in need of improved facilities as well as more specialist staff.
He said upgrading hospitals was not easy since it meant investing large sums of money in expansion and infrastructure facilities.
On another matter, Sujudi said that, in compliance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Indonesia is opening its doors to foreign physicians to work in the country.
Sujudi said that, initially, hospitals may only hire foreign physicians for jobs for which no Indonesians are available. "They (foreigners) must be employed in such a way that there is a transfer of technology and knowhow to Indonesian experts," he added.
But that restriction will have to be phased out completely by 2020 in line with Indonesia's commitment to free trade, he said.
Indonesia will also allow foreign investors to enter the hospital sector, on condition that they work in a joint venture with Indonesian investors.
Sujudi said foreign investors would probably target wealthy Indonesians who currently go overseas for medical treatment.
"If the rich could opt for `foreign hospitals' within the country, instead of having to go overseas, it could save a lot in foreign currency," he said.
"Foreign hospitals" which are set up in the future should continue to provide an alternative for this group, he said. (pwn)