The Faculty of Public Health (FPH), Universitas Indonesia (UI), held a Public Doctoral Promotion Session on Wednesday, June 26, 2025. Doctoral candidate Putri Citra Cinta Asyura Nasution from the Doctoral Program in Public Health Sciences defended her dissertation titled “Conceptual Model of Patient Safety Improvement Strategies in Hospitals (Case Study: North Sumatra and Bali Provinces)” in the Doctoral Promotion Room of FPH UI. The session was chaired by Prof. Dr. drg. Wachyu Sulistiadi, M.A.R.S., who also served as head examiner.
In her presentation, the candidate emphasized that patient safety is a hospital obligation and has been an integral part of the accreditation system since 2008. Nevertheless, various challenges and issues remain, making the sustainability of patient safety improvement efforts a continuing challenge. Against this background, Putri’s research aimed to formulate a more comprehensive conceptual model for patient safety improvement strategies.
This research employed a mixed methods approach with a convergent parallel design. Quantitative data were derived from the 2019 Health Facilities Research (Rifaskes), involving 523 hospitals, along with accreditation data from 917 hospitals. Analyses included chi-square tests, logistic regression, and path analysis. Qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews and document reviews from six hospitals, Provincial Health Offices, and the Indonesian Hospital Association (PERSI) in North Sumatra and Bali, involving a total of 95 informants. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software, applying the Malcolm Baldrige framework and the Van Meter-Van Horn implementation model.
The results showed that patient safety incident reporting is strongly associated with several factors: hospital location (especially in Java-Bali), accreditation status, bed count (more than 200), hospital class (A and B), service quality assessments, internal audits, and the active role of patient safety and infection control committees. Although patient safety policies have begun to be implemented in hospitals, the level of implementation varies depending on hospital management and resource availability. “Strong leadership, adequate facilities and infrastructure, and a consistently cultivated safety culture significantly enhance policy implementation. In contrast, lack of commitment and limited budgets are key obstacles,” Putri explained.
Challenges in incident reporting persist due to both organizational and individual factors. Based on her findings, the doctoral candidate developed a patient safety improvement strategy model, which includes the integration of patient safety into hospital strategic plans, strengthened leadership, enhanced staff competencies, adequate budgeting, routine monitoring and evaluation, and patient involvement. This model is expected to support a comprehensive and sustainable patient safety system in hospitals.
As part of her recommendations, hospital management should strengthen the active role of relevant committees, particularly the Patient Safety Committee and the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Committee, supported by sufficient resources. Hospitals are also encouraged to routinely conduct patient safety rounds involving board members, committees, and managers. Moreover, specific budget allocations should be included in the hospital’s Budget Plan (RBA), and technological innovations should be utilized to develop integrated digital incident reporting systems connected to Hospital Information Systems (SIM-RS), electronic medical records, and e-prescribing systems.
Putri was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dra. Dumilah Ayuningtyas, M.A.R.S. as her main advisor, and co-advised by Prof. Dr. Adang Bachtiar, M.P.H., D.Sc. and Prof. Dr. Besral, S.K.M., M.Sc. The doctoral committee also included Dr. dr. Sutoto, M.Kes., FISQua; Dr. Dra. Emma Rachmawati, M.Kes.; and Dr. dr. Viera Wardhani, M.Kes. Based on the decision of the session chair, the doctoral candidate was declared to have passed with honors (cum laude), earning a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.85. Putri is the 14th Public Health Science doctoral graduate from FPH UI in 2025, the 353rd graduate of the doctoral program, and the 464th overall doctoral graduate from FPH UI.
Born in Medan, Putri Citra Cinta Asyura Nasution is also an active lecturer who has published several scholarly articles in international journals, including one in 2025. Her academic achievements and scientific contributions reflect the quality of education at FPH UI, which consistently nurtures doctoral candidates to excel not only in research but also in advancing global public health knowledge. As a leading academic institution in public health, FPH UI continues to produce resilient researchers and leaders prepared to face health challenges in Indonesia and around the world. (DFD)