Policy Recommendation for Telemedicine Services after Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the use of telemedicine services in Indonesia rose. Telemedicine service policies were released as an emergency condition during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the post-pandemic policies on telemedicine have never been formulated. This study aimed to construct the policy recommendation related to telemedicine services in Indonesia in the COVID-19 post-pandemic. The policy recommendations were developed after an initial analysis of user needs. The respondents were 102 telemedicine users who were over 18 years old. Results showed that most telemedicine users (61%) were worried about misdiagnosis, and others (52.9%) were worried about data security and confidentiality. The conceptual policy recommendation was developed based on the situation analysis. Multi-stakeholder cooperation across institutions such as the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information Technology, the Food and Drug Administration, the Association of Health Service Facilities, professional organizations, and telemedicine startups. Such cooperation may harmonize the implementation of policies.