Addressing Health Equity through E-Patient Solutions in West Sulawesi

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes three key points to ensure that the global community receives adequate health services: equality in health access, quality of health services, and protection of patients' financial risks. The problems with the ongoing health development in Indonesia are essentially the same as those that the government of West Sulawesi is dealing with, namely the lack of optimum access, affordability, and quality of healthcare services. This study aims to determine the needs of users to design intervention media in the form of e-patient development at the West Sulawesi Regional General Hospital. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) conducted from January to February 2023. Thematic analysis was performed using nVivo. The result of the study shows that users of hospital services benefit greatly from the e-patient application, which reduces waiting times. Therefore, it must be improved in terms of the application's form and appearance/display. There are chat services that enable interaction with doctors, and the development of e-patients has been made simple so that it is easily understood and accessed by society from various educational backgrounds. In conclusion, it is vital to develop e-patient applications while considering the needs of the patients.