Makassar, March 17 2026
Prof. Rini Rachmawaty, S.Kep., Ns., MN, PhD, Professor in Nursing Management and Secretary of the Quality Assurance and Educational Development Institute (LPMPP) of Hasanuddin University, successfully represented Indonesia at the prestigious UTokyo Nursing Spring International Program 2026, organized by the Global Nursing Research Center (GNRC), Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan, from March 9 to 11, 2026. This international program was attended by 49 participants from 12 countries and regions, including Japan, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Maldives, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States.
On the first day of the program (March 9, 2026), Prof. Rini presented a paper titled “Health Care System in Indonesia: Structure, Quality Challenges & Innovation through Integrated Clinical Pathways” during the Presentations & Discussions on Health/Nursing Care System session. This presentation, delivered alongside Dewie Sulistyorini from Hiroshima University, covered an overview of Indonesia’s threetiered health system, ranging from primary health facilities such as Puskesmas (community health centers) to Type A and B hospitals serving as tertiary and subspecialist care. It also highlighted Indonesia’s achievements under the National Health Insurance program (JKN/BPJS Kesehatan), which now covers 98% of the populationapproximately 278 million membersas well as the ongoing challenges in healthcare quality. As a solution, Prof. Rini introduced the innovation of Integrated Clinical Pathways (ICP) and the iCare System, a realtime digital platform for monitoring clinical compliance developed at Hasanuddin University, as a response to the high variation in service quality across regions in Indonesia.
Figure 1. Prof. Rini Rachmawaty (left) with Dewie Sulistyorini from Hiroshima University presenting “Health Care System in Indonesia: Structure, Quality Challenges & Innovation through Integrated Clinical Pathways”
Following the presentation session, Prof. Rini participated in two highly relevant handson seminars on communitybased nursing development. The first seminar, Innovative Infant Hip Screening through NurseLed Ultrasound, was led by Assoc. Prof. Kyoko YoshiokaMaeda from the Department of Community Health Nursing/Public Health Nursing at UTokyo. This seminar introduced a nurseled method for screening Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) using Graf ultrasonographyan early detection innovation already implemented in neonatal home visits in Japan. The second seminar, Career Cartography, was led by Prof. Mari Ikeda from the Department of Family Nursing/Nursing Administration at UTokyo, providing participants with a strategic framework for mapping their academic career paths and developing concrete longterm research plans.
Figure 2. Participants taking part in the handson session of Innovative Infant Hip Screening through NurseLed Ultrasound, led by Assoc. Prof. Kyoko YoshiokaMaeda, demonstrating Graf ultrasonography techniques for screening Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) in infants.
On the second day (March 10, 2026), Prof. Rini actively participated as a member of Group 5 in the Nursing Administration & Nursing Data Science Department activities. Together with participants from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China), Hong Kong Metropolitan University, the University of the Philippines, Universiti Teknologi MARA (Maldives), and UTokyo, Prof. Rini presented a study titled “Integrated Clinical Pathways & iCare System: A Nursing Management Strategy for Improving Healthcare Quality in Indonesia.” This presentation included an analysis of secondary BPJS claims data from four government hospitals in South Sulawesi, the development of 15 ICP handbooks covering nine common diseases and five mental health disorders, and the results of the iCare System pilot at Labuang Baji Hospital involving 61 BPJS patients, which showed a patient satisfaction rate of 82.88% and an average financial surplus of IDR 1.69 million per patient. The day’s activities were rounded off with a direct visit to The University of Tokyo Hospital, where the team received presentations on the career ladder system and competency standards of an internationally accredited teaching hospital’s nursing staf.
Figure 3. Prof. Rini Rachmawaty with members of Group 5 (Department of Nursing Administration & Nursing Data Science) presenting the study “Integrated Clinical Pathways & iCare System: A Nursing Management Strategy for Improving Healthcare Quality in Indonesia” to participants from China, Hong Kong, the Philippines.
On the third and final day (March 11, 2026), Group 5 compiled and presented the outcomes of the second day’s activities in a Group Presentations and Discussion session before all participants from seven departments. Group 5’s presentation highlighted a crosscountry comparison of nursing management and hospital administration systems, the potential for research collaboration in nursing informatics and realworld databased policy evaluation, and a jointly agreed postprogram research agenda. Prior to the closing, a GNRC postdoctoral alumni forum was held, inspiring participants through the reallife experiences of researchers who have built international research careers. The program concluded with a closing address by Prof. Noriko YamamotoMitani, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director of GNRC, who emphasized the importance of international research networks, followed by a certificate ceremony for all participants who completed the full threeday program, including Prof. Rini Rachmawaty on behalf of Hasanuddin University.
Figure 4. Group 5 (Nursing Administration & Nursing Data Science) presenting their activities to all participants from seven departments in the Group Presentations and Discussion session, UTokyo GNRC, March 11, 2026.
The most strategically significant outcome of this participation was a formal offer of international research collaboration extended by Assoc. Prof. Kyoko YoshiokaMaeda via email on March 10, 2026. The offer invited Hasanuddin University to join a threecountry consortium with The University of Tokyo and National Taiwan University to apply for the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) International Research Grant. The proposed research focuses on developing a community nurseled DDH screening program to be adapted to the maternal and infant healthcare context in Indonesia. Prof. YoshiokaMaeda specifically requested Prof. Rini’s input on the timing, settings, and healthcare professionals typically involved in infant hip dysplasia screening in Indonesia, as a basis for adapting the crossnational research protocol.
Figure 5. Email from Assoc. Prof. Kyoko YoshiokaMaeda, The University of Tokyo, to Prof. Rini Rachmawaty, inviting Hasanuddin University to join a threecountry research consortium (Japan–Taiwan–Indonesia) through the APACPH Grant, dated March 10, 2026
Prof. Rini’s participation in this prestigious program reflects Hasanuddin University’s commitment to strengthening its strategic position in the global nursing research arena. Through the exchange of knowledge with researchers from 12 countries, this program opens opportunities for collaborative publications in reputable international journals in the fields of nursing management, patient safety, and nursing informatics. Furthermore, the nursing quality improvement efforts presented by Prof. Riniranging from ICP implementation to the iCare Systemdirectly contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and WellBeing) through improvements to Indonesia’s healthcare system quality, SDG 4 (Quality Education) through the strengthening of evidencebased nursing professional education, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) through the crossinstitutional and crossnational research collaboration networks established through this program.
