Medical Journal of Indonesia Vol. 31 No. 3 2022 FKUI
Editorial The Role of Medical Journal in Health Service Transformation

Medical Journal of Indonesia Vol. 31 No. 3 2022 FKUI
Editorial The Role of Medical Journal in Health Service Transformation

Most medical journals publish high-quality
scientific articles (both research and practice papers)
that are of great significance to the readers to achieve
their primary objective of improving medical care.1
Medical publication in reputable journals is routinely
discussed at the medical policy-making level. For
example, the cost-effectiveness between sildenafil
and the readily available beraprost in the universal
health coverage system (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional
[JKN]) is being studied and discussed in the technology
screening division of the Ministry of Health. Sildenafil
is currently included in the JKN coverage for treating
patients with pulmonary hypertension due to better
outcomes. Several papers have also called for

Indonesia to incorporate international guideline-
approved medications for pulmonary hypertension

other than beraprost into our regimen.2,3 Furthermore,
the prospects for the organ transplantation network
and system in Indonesia are being studied to
overcome the soaring cost of treatment of end-stage
kidney disease using hemodialysis and end-stage
heart failure using medications.4 Considerations are
also made on transplantation-bridging therapy in
end-stage heart failure using a left ventricular assist
device. In addition, medical publications are used
at the policy-making level, not only for innovations
in medical policy but also to improve the existing
policy. This is the case for the current investigation
of the prospect of using locally made coronary stents
instead of imported coronary stents to help suppress
costs in coronary heart disease treatment using stent
implantation. This approach was advocated by one
publication in the Journal of the American College of
Cardiology.5,6 Keeping down costs of care means that
more people can be treated using the same amount
of budget.
With the high availability of medical information
nowadays, policymakers require solid evidence
and engage in lengthy discussions before making a

decision. Keeping up with advances in the medical
world, the Ministry of Health, with its various
divisions, are adapting between the ever-changing
advances in the medical world and the country’s
need. These changes are studied by the Research and
Development Institute (Litbangkes) and the health
technology assessment of the Ministry of Health.
As the fourth most populated country in the world
with an extensive maritime frontier, public health
policy in Indonesia needs to be thoroughly discussed
to meet the needs of all its citizens. Therefore, the
research and development division and the health
technology assessment at the Ministry of Health hold
monthly briefing regarding public health policy and
study articles from various medical journals, either
international or Indonesian, for their impact on our
public health policy.
During the current digital era, physicians are
faced with easy access to information worldwide. The
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changes our lifestyle,
including our behaviors in seeking information about
medicine. 7,8 Evidence-based medicine has always been

utilized to avoid errors on clinical decision and health-
related policymaking. Currently, physicians can easily

access valid and reputable guidelines and studies for all
medical conditions from medical journals worldwide.
These journals are kept to standard by stringent
editorial policies and boards to avoid disseminating
wrong information.
Medical Journal of Indonesia (MJI), with its
global readership, needs to improve the citation
index to be more influential in the health-related
policy-making process since many Indonesian
medical research is published in the journal. In doing
so, the journal’s editorial board needs to reach out to
editors of medical journals overseas to study ways to
improve the journal. These are necessary for MJI to
contribute to accelerating the health transformation
in Indonesia.

142 Med J Indones 2022;31(3)

mji.ui.ac.id
From Medical Journal of Indonesia; Department of Cardiology and
Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, National
Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita, Jakarta, Indonesia
pISSN: 0853-1773 • eISSN: 2252-8083
https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.ed.226647
Med J Indones. 2022;31:141–2
Corresponding author:
Bambang Budi Siswanto
E-mail: bambbs@gmail.com

REFERENCES

1. Hudzik B. What makes a good medical journal great? CMAJ.
2016;188(7):531.
2. Dinarti LK, Anggrahini DW, Lilyasari O, Siswanto BB, Hartopo
AB. Pulmonary arterial hypertension in Indonesia: current
status and local application of international guidelines. Glob

Heart. 2021;16(1):23.
3. Yonas E, Pranata R, Yamin M, Nusarintowati N, Nauli SE,
Abdulgani HB, et al. Clinical and hemodynamic effect of
endothelin receptor antagonists in eisenmenger syndrome.
Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2020;13(4):309–19.
4. Yonas E, Alwi I, Pranata R, Huang I, Lim MA, Gutierrez EJ, et
al. Effect of heart failure on the outcome of COVID-19 - A meta
analysis and systematic review. Am J Emerg Med. 2021;46:204–11.
5. Beshchasna N, Saqib M, Kraskiewicz H, Wasyluk Ł, Kuzmin O,
Duta OC, et al. Recent advances in manufacturing innovative
stents. Pharmaceutics. 2020;12(4):349.
6. Giri J, Halaby R. Coronary stents. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv. 2021;14
(22):2474–6.

7. Pranata R, Lim MA, Yonas E, Siswanto BB, Meyer M. Out-of-
hospital cardiac arrest prognosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intern Emerg Med. 2020;15(5):875–7.

8. Lim MA, Huang I, Yonas E, Vania R, Pranata R. A wave of non-
communicable diseases following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020;14(5):979–80.

Bambang Budi Siswanto

https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.ed.226647

2022;31(3)

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