Patient information difficult to access at hospitals

Patient information difficult to access at hospitals

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"My father was told he was 'seriously ill' and needed to be
hospitalized. After almost a week of treatment, though, I still
don't know what he is ill with," complained Diani (not her real
name).

One night, Diani's father, "David", found he could not
breathe. Diani took him to a hospital in South Jakarta and the
doctor there decided that he had to be hospitalized.

Since then, her father has been receiving treatment at the
hospital, but up to now, no clear information has been provided
by the doctors or staff as to her father's condition.

"What I know is that my father has to take several kinds of
medication every day, and that he still needs to stay in the
hospital," said Diani, who is, understandably, confused.

Diani is not the only one who is experiencing difficulties in
procuring information from doctors as to the condition of their
family members, who are in-house patients at a Jakarta hospital.

Complaints abound from patients or their families, that some
doctors of various hospitals were not willing to provide details
on a patient's condition.

"Or, if they do, they do it in medical terms, and not in
layman's terms," said Diani.

Dandy (not his real name), a newlywed, also complained about
how complicated it was for him and his wife to find out about the
results of her pregnancy test.

"We visited a gynecologist in a hospital in Central Jakarta.
Friends told us that he was one of the best gynecologists in
town, and also a well-known one," said Dandy.

On their first visit, Dandy's wife was asked to take a urine
test. Later, they found out that the test was not meant to check
for pregnancy, but for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

After they received the result, Dandy's wife was asked to meet
an internist. The internist said Dandy's wife had an STD --
without elaborating on the type of STD -- and prescribed some
medicine totaling Rp 215,000 (about US$24).

"I complained to the gynecologist that what we wanted to know
was whether my wife was pregnant, and he only said that a urine
test wasn't necessary because it wasn't accurate. Then he offered
an ultrasound for more accurate results," said Dandy. "Later, he
said that he detected no signs of pregnancy in my wife's womb."

Dandy and his wife then switched to another gynecologist in
Menteng, Central Jakarta, and found out that she was one-month
pregnant.

"We spent about Rp 600,000 for nothing at that hospital. I no
longer trust famous doctors or hospitals," said Dandy.

In the meantime, chairman of the Indonesia Health Consumers
Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) Dr. Marius Widjajarto told The
Jakarta Post on Thursday that Indonesian health consumers had the
right to access a patient's health records.

"Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection includes health
services. Consumers deserve to receive information, to choose, to
be heard, to receive support and assessment," said Marius.

But Marius also said that many consumers were not yet familiar
with the law because it was implemented only on April 20, 2000.

"We still need to communicate it and educate the public a
little more," he said.

YPKKI has handled 154 medical cases so far. Ninety-four were
resolved through mediation and one through court.