Implementing Precision Health Care Program at Hospitals in Indonesia. Is It Possible?

Background: A precision health care approach is needed in the context of the healthcare system, especially as an effort to improve the self-management activities of diabetes patients. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the perception of the possibility of implementing a precision health care program in hospitals through interviews with policymakers and health professionals. Methods: Purposive sampling, one-on-one, in-dept with semi-structural interviews was conducted to collect the data in this study. Data saturation was achieved after interviewing seventeen policymakers and health professionals in the hospitals. Participants discussed related with the possibility of a program being implemented in Indonesia and the challenges to implementing the program as well as discovered the solutions. Naratives were analyzed by Colaizzi’s phenomenological analytic method. Results: Three themes identified to illustrate the perception of the possibility of implementing precision health care programs at hospitals in Indonesia were: 1. Precision health care for diabetes-related to genetics, big data and patient preference; 2.  Barriers to implementing precision health care in Indonesian hospitals; 3. The implementation of precision health care can be succeeded step by step. Conclusion: More time is needed to implement the precision health care concept in Indonesia. Necessarily it takes time but the application of the concept has great potential to be developed in reducing the risk of complications caused by diabetes mellitus in the future.