Treffer: Assessing Internet Quality Across Public Health Centers in Indonesia: Cross-Sectional Evaluation Study.

Background: Primary health care centers (Puskesmas) serve as the cornerstone of Indonesia's health care system, providing integrated services aimed at improving individual health through prevention, treatment, and health promotion. To fulfill these roles effectively, robust technological infrastructure, particularly reliable internet connectivity, is increasingly essential. Assessing the availability and quality of internet access in Puskesmas is therefore a critical step in understanding their readiness to implement digital health initiatives and fulfill their responsibilities in delivering accessible and effective healthcare services.
Objective: This study provides a national baseline assessment of internet quality and its relevant IT infrastructure in more than 10,000 Puskesmas across Indonesia.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted throughout all Puskesmas (10,382) in 34 provinces in Indonesia, using an online questionnaire. Categorization was done to analyze internet quality level results.
Results: A total of 10,378 out of 10,382 public health centers (99.96%) participated in this study. Overall, 745 of 10,382 (7.18%) did not have internet access, 1487 (14.33%) had limited internet access, 5567 (53.64%) had sufficient internet access, and 2579 (24.85%) had sufficient and fast internet access. Moreover, 832 of 10,382 Puskesmas (8.02%) did not have 24-hour electricity, 44,196 (43.7%) had a central processing unit (CPU) with i3 specifications, 43,044 (42.56%) had 512 GB hard disk capacity, and 67,272 (66.5%) used antivirus.
Conclusions: Although 79% (8201/10,382) of Puskesmas in Indonesia already had sufficient internet access, 21% (2180/10,382) still have limited and insufficient access. To ensure universal internet availability, it is essential to build collaborative support among internet providers and government to foster the availability and use of internet satellites, high-quality computers, and electrical power to support internet connectivity.
(© Dewi Nur Aisyah, Agus Heri Setiawan, Alfiano Fawwaz Lokopessy, Chyntia Aryanti Mayadewi, M Thoriqul Aziz Endryantoro, Viktor Wibowo, Sarah Disviana, Indra Laksana, Mohammad Aviandito, Zisis Kozlakidis, Logan Manikam. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (https://medinform.jmir.org).)