Health Ministry Expands Telemedicine Services to Jakarta’s Satellite Cities
Ministry of Health has announced it is expanding consultation services and free medicines through telemedicine services for COVID-19 patients self-isolating at home to four areas in Greater Jakarta, including Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.
Launched in Jakarta on 7 July this year, this telemedicine service aims to facilitate the people, especially those who are self-isolating at home, to have access to online health consultations.
The service is also expected to lower bed occupancy at hospitals so that the hospital beds can be specifically used for patients with moderate and severe symptoms.
To date, there have been eleven telemedicine platforms that are in collaboration with Ministry of Health, namely Halodoc, YesDok, Alodokter, Klik Doctor, SehatQ, Good Doctor, KlinikGo, Link Sehat, Milvik, Prosehat, and Getwell.
In the meantime, to make the service more effective and efficient, the flow of COVID-19 telemedicine services is also now made more concise in that patients no longer need to send messages to Kimia Farma pharmacies first.
Instead, they can now fill out a drug order form and upload an ID card on the chosen telemedicine platform and everything will be processed automatically.
The following is the flow of telemedicine services for COVID-19 patients self-isolating at home:
- PCR / Antigen Test
The free telemedicine service starts from the process of taking and examining samples in the laboratory. To get this service, a patient must perform a PCR / antigen test in a laboratory affiliated with Ministry of Health’s New All Record (NAR) system.
If the result is positive and the laboratory reports the data to the NAR database, the patient will receive a WhatsApp message from Ministry of Health (with a green tick) automatically. However, if they do not receive a WhatsApp notification, they can check their ID number independently on the https://isoman.kemkes.go.id site.
- Online Consultation
Upon receiving a WhatsApp notification, the patient can have an online consultation with a doctor at one of eleven telemedicine services. For easy access, they can press the link in the WhatsApp message or on the link that appears on the website for those who check their ID, then enter the voucher code so they can consult and get a free medicine package.
Before consulting, the patient must inform that he/she is a patient of Ministry of Health program. For the time being, this program only applies to the Greater Jakarta area.
- Digital Prescription
After the consultation, the doctor will give a digital prescription according to the patient’s condition. Only patients in the self-isolating category will receive free medicines and vitamins.
- Redeem Prescription
To redeem the prescription, the patient simply fills out a drug order form and uploads an ID card on the chosen telemedicine platform and everything will be automatically processed immediately. Medicines and / or vitamins cost will be covered by Ministry of Health and are given only for patient consumption and should not be traded.
- Medicine Delivery
Delivery of medicines and / or vitamins from Kimia Farma pharmacies to the patient’s address will be carried out by the SiCepat expedition service. For this reason, the patient must ensure that the delivery address on the telemedicine platform is correct.
The flow of the medicine delivery is the patient will receive an SMS from SiCepat containing the receipt number and delivery status so that the patient can monitor the location / position of the shipment.
The list of drugs and vitamins covered by Ministry of Health are:
- Drug Package A (self-isolate patients) is a multivitamin (Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Zinc), with a dose of 1 × 1, as many as 10 tablets.
- Drug Package B (patients with mild symptoms), consisting of:
- Multivitamins (Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Zinc), with a dose of 1×1, as many as 10 tablets;
- Azithromycin 500mg, with a dose of 1×1, 5 tablets;
- Oseltamivir 75mg, with a dose of 2×1, as many as 14 tablets; and
- Paracetamol tab 500 mg, with a dose if needed, as much as 10 tablets.
Amid the current pandemic, telemedicine service is one of the best options to provide health services to the public with minimal health risks.
Apart from Greater Jakarta areas, this service is also planned to be gradually developed in other provincial capitals. (PR Ministry of Health/UN) (EST/EP)