An Indonesian island is upping the innovation stakes with a healthcare Blockchain project for local citizens.
Batam, located a short
boat ride from Singapore, is working with a group of tech partners on a Public Healthcare Blockchain (PHB), leveraging
world-class data analytics tools at a secure data centre.
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The island, which has
a population of just over 1.2 million, is implementing the project through the BP
Batam Hospital Authority and dClinic. Deloitte South East Asia and JP
Consulting are providing project management and clinical governance expertise.
The aim is to prove
the effectiveness of a secure, dependable and flexible Longitudinal
Electronic Health Record (LEHR) that’s made available for patients and
consumers.
In the first of a series of interviews on Blockchain in healthcare, HealthManagement.org spoke to dClinic CEO, Richard Satur about why the region has embraced the Blockchain initiative.
In Europe, there is largely a ‘wait and see’ attitude amongst healthcare CEOs when it comes to implementation of Blockchain. What is the attitude in Indonesia? Have you detected any other attitudes towards the tech in other regions where dClinic is working?
There are many reasons why we considered
Indonesia. Firstly, the large population is definitely attractive. There is
also a large medical tourism market in Indonesia and interestingly, many
Indonesian citizens seek wellness and vitality treatments outside Indonesia.
Indonesia and South East Asia are very much advocates for wellness and vitality
services. Medication is not always the preferred path for their citizens. So,
all of these contributors proved Indonesia a very attractive launching pad for
our PHB (Private Healthcare Blockchain). Operating from Singapore is also a
good base and we have leveraged the proposed discussions between the Australian
and the Indonesian government around a free trade agreement.
dClinic started its journey in Indonesia by engaging with the Indonesian government around how our PHB could be beneficial for the Indonesian people. After over one year and many conversations and negotiations with all the required partners, we engaged Deloitte South East Asia and JP Consulting to assist with corporate and clinical governance. They will be key to the workshops and implementation of the PHB in Batam. We believe we have demonstrated to the Indonesian government and BP Batam that we were committed to genuine healthcare outcomes for its peoples and we had the right Healthcare Blockchain solution for them.
Why is Batam and BP Batam Hospital such an attractive business proposition for dClinic?
BP Batam has just completed the
development of a 78-bed “niche” private hospital that will operate on the same
campus as its existing 200-bed public hospital. This is a high-class premium
facility that is aiming to attract significant business through medical
tourism. BP Batam Hospital owns 20 hectares of land surrounding the hospital
that has approval from the Indonesian Government to develop a special“Medical Zone”,creating a major new medical precinct for Batam.
The Indonesian Government is currently
working with the Batam Authority to develop new regulations to enable BP Batam
to develop a special“Medical Zone”by the end of
2019. These new regulations are designed to create new innovative models of
health service delivery (proof of concept) especially for medical tourism by
allowing the following major reforms, (all firsts for Indonesia) namely;
Medical professionals with internationally-recognised qualifications such as, doctors, nurses and allied health professionals will be able to work undertake clinical practice in the special “Medical Zone”.
Medical and diagnostic equipment will be able to be directly imported from overseas suppliers for fitting out, medical facilities in the, creating significant cost saving and efficiencies in purchasing and installing new equipment.
New regulations will be developed for the special “Medical Zone” allowing improved provisions for maintaining digital health records, sharing of patient information and supporting health research.
These special reforms provide very substantial incentives and benefits for dClinic to establish its PHB and premium wellness and vitality facilities, and services in the form of a major centre for post-acute care, rehabilitation and medical tourism in Batam. With the support of the Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority (BIFZA) and BP Batam Hospital, dClinic can create a unique and successful approach to the delivery of vitality services. This success can then be applied to whole of Indonesia as a showcase.
Source: HealthManagement.org interview
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