Background: Implementing digital health technology brings new hope for improving community healthcare qualities. The transformation from manual to digital is expected to accelerate the efficiency of health workers’ administrative tasks, allowing them to prioritise optimal healthcare service deliveries. However, this implementation requires adequate digital literacy skills, which are challenging to acquire in Kampung Lio, one of the underprivileged urban slums in Indonesia. This digital divide highlights a significant barrier to the equitable distribution of healthcare benefits in the communities.
Aims: To Explore health workers' experiences with digital health technology implementation in Kampung Lio’s community healthcare service.
Methods: Five Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with all health workers in Kampung Lio, including five formal healthcare professionals and 26 informal post cadres. Results were coded and analysed according to Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis using NVivo 15.
Results: Qualitative analysis revealed four main themes: (1) Daily healthcare services still rely on manual systems; (2) Digital health services have been partially adopted; (3) The adoption of digital health services is hindered by issues related to digital infrastructure and resource readiness; and (4) Limited understanding and implementation of digital transformation policies. Formal and informal workers’ experiences and perceptions are notable differences. While formal health workers are generally more familiar with digital applications, informal health workers often lack training and awareness, impeding their ability to leverage available technologies.
Conclusions: There are disparities in implementing digital health transformation initiatives, with formal health workers being more familiar with these systems.