Indonesia Is Left Behind In The Utilization Of Biomedical Engineering Graduates In Hospitals

JAKARTA Indonesia is still considered left behind in utilizing biomedical engineering graduates in hospitals. As a result, many technical aspects are directly related to patient safety that have not been managed professionally.

"Security, quality, security, hospitality, and monitoring of facilities, infrastructure, and equipment in health care facilities are still important issues. Many technical incidents at hospitals show that technical support aspects have not been handled properly," said Prof. Dr. Eko Supriyanto PHEng, President of the Indonesian Service-Health Engineering Association (PTPI), Monday (20/10).

According to him, the main cause of the problem is not only the management system and cost constraints, but also the lack of competent and certified technical personnel in the field of health services.

Prof. Eko explained, the International Health Service Technicals Federation (IFHE) groups engineering personnel in hospitals into several fields: building engineering, machinery, electronics, environment, informatics, and biomedicals (medicals) techniques. In Europe, since the 1950s, biomedical engineering personnel have become an important part of the hospital system, ranging from the planning, installation, testing, management stages, to maintenance of medical equipment and infrastructure.

In Indonesia, the discipline of biomedical engineering has only grown for less than a decade. The first study program has only opened around 2014 at several engineering universities. As a result, the number of graduates who are ready to work in hospitals is still limited.

Now, a lot of technical work in hospitals from planning to monitoring building systems, electricity, air administration, waste treatment, and medical devices is still concurrently carried out by medical personnel. This condition makes health facility safety and quality standards not optimal.

"In fact, in the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, the use of technology in hospitals is increasingly massive, ranging from integrated information systems to robotics. This indicates that the need for biomedical engineering personnel will continue to increase," he said.

Prof. Eko added, Law Number 17 of 2023 concerning Health has recognized biomedical engineering personnel as part of health workers. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately formulate composition, competence, career level, and remuneration standards for technical graduates in health facilities so that this profession has a clear legal and career basis.

To discuss this, PTPI will hold a seminar entitled "Competence and Career of Engineering Graduates at Health Facilities Based on the Latest Health Law" in the 2025 INAHEF series, Friday (10/10/2025), at 15.00 p.m. . local time at the SMESCO Indonesia Building, Jakarta.

This activity presents speakers from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the Indonesian Biomedical Engineering Study Program Association (P2TBI), and the Indonesian Biomedical Engineering Kolegium (KTBI) to discuss regulations, competencies, and mechanisms for recognizing the technical profession in health service facilities.