Observing the Huge Opportunity of the Healthtech Industry in Indonesia

On the first day of the event Indonesia – Australia Digital Forum 2018 (IADF2018) presented by speakers from Indonesia to Australia who discussed topics such as healthtech, smart city to cyber security.

One of the interesting topics of concern is the development of healthtech in Indonesia. On this occasion, the CEO of Klikdokter, Andreas Setiawan Santoso, Founder and Managing Director of Spokle, Elisabeth Yunarko, and CEO of Medico, Grace Tahir, were also present.

Lack of information and adoption of healthcare technology

The general public is still low on education about healthtech and the lack of adoption from health practitioners to doctors understanding health technology, is one of the reasons why health technology in Indonesia is still far behind compared to other countries.

According to Andreas, this is a challenge as well as an opportunity for startups targeting the technology health sector.

"Like Klikdokter, for example, in order to provide good health information for the general public, we build good relationships with young doctors who are quite enthusiastic about technological developments," said Andreas.

Meanwhile, Grace, who is currently still focusing on developing the new startup Medico, is observing the role of the government in utilizing data and technology to accelerate the growth of health services in Indonesia. This can help health technology create new innovations, supported by relevant regulators.

"At Medico, we prioritize company culture innovation driven, so that if any of our team has an interesting idea, it is immediately created and thrown to the market. The point is to keep doing trials," said Grace.

Compete with online transportation services and e-commerce

In Indonesia itself, currently the technology that is very familiar to the public is transportation services on-demand  to e-commerce. Health technology services are still very underdeveloped. However, according to Grace Tahir, this does not reduce the potential and opportunities of the industry. In fact, with all the shortcomings, health technology services still have great opportunities for business.

"In the end I saw in terms of healthtech the ultimate goal is to help people get health care while at the same time collect revenue from the business. The opportunity is still wide open in healthtech, said Grace.

Asked whether technology is powerful enough to "disturb" conventional health services and whether the hospital is ready to face changes in existing technology, according to Andreas, not only technology is a priority, but also appropriate education and information to users.

"It must be ascertained whether the person is used to using the application, and understands the technology applied," said Andreas.

Andreas added that the location also still affects the health services that can be obtained by the community. For example, for those who live in Papua, it is not necessarily possible to get health services like people who live on the island of Java.

"That's where technology should be able to bridge between users in remote areas so they can get better health services using technology," said Andreas.

The importance of collaboration and networking in Indonesia

Another interesting thing that Grace and Andreas conveyed in front of entrepreneurs and representatives of the Australian government is that if you want to build a business in Indonesia, multiply networking and meeting the right people affects the running of the business. It is hoped that this will help Australian entrepreneurs who are planning to launch a startup healthtech or others in Indonesia.

"Do networking as wide as possible and don't forget to find the right partner before the business is launched in Indonesia," said Andreas.

- Disclosure: DailySocial is the media partner of Indonesia – Australia Digital Forum 2018 (IADF2018)