198 https://oamjms.eu/index.php/mjms/index Scientifc Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2023 Feb 26; 11(E):198-202. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2023.8941 eISSN: 1857-9655 Category: E - Public Health Section: Public Health Legislation Consumer Legal Protection for Patients and the Quality of Health Services in Hospitals Rina Arum Prastyanti 1 *, Aris Prio Agus Santoso 1 , Siwi Ellis Saidah 2 , Ayesha Hendriana Ngestiningrum 3 , Arief Budiono 4 1 Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Duta Bangsa, Surakarta, Indonesia; 2 Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia; 3 Department of Midwifery, Politeknik Kesehatan Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia; 4 Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia Abstract BACKGROUND: Health development is part of Indonesia’s national development. It is implemented by creating a social security system run by the Social Security Administrator for Health (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial Kesehatan/BPJS Health) based on Law No. 24 of 2011. AIM: This study analyzes the legal protection for BPJS health participants who are hospital inpatients. It also discusses their rights and obligations that are yet unfulflled. METHODS: This research uses the juridical doctrinal or normative method. This is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. RESULTS: As patients, BPJS health participants’ rights are legally protected by Law No. 36 of 2009 on Health and Law No. 44 of 2009 on Hospitals. Unfortunately, some participants often experience problems when they require hospitalization. For instance, there is usually a lack of information on the provision of treatment rooms. Another issue is that the BPJS patients often only obtain a 3-day hospitalization facility as the fee allocation from BPJS health has run out. CONCLUSION: Thus, it is concluded that there is adequate legal protection for BPJS health patients who are hospitalized both as consumers and as BPJS health participants. However, there are still issues with its application. The participants who feel harmed by the treatment may fle a lawsuit on consumer protection concerning the inadequate services or a lawsuit on malpractice if there are violations. Edited by: Sasho Stoleski Citation: Prastyanti RA, Santoso APA, Saidah SE, Ngestiningrum AH, Budiono A. Consumer Legal Protection for Patients and the Quality of Health Services in Hospitals. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2023 Feb 26; 11(E):198-202. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2023.8941 Keywords: Consumer protection; Social security administrator; Health services; Quality; Hospitals *Correspondence: Rina Arum Prastyanti, Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Duta Bangsa, Surakarta, Indonesia. E-mail: rina_arum@udb.ac.id Received: 23-Jul-2022 Revised: 05-Dec-2022 Accepted: 16-Feb-2023 Copyright: © 2023 Rina Arum Prastyanti, Aris Prio Agus Santoso, Siwi Ellis Saidah, Ayesha Hendriana Ngestiningrum, Arief Budiono Funding: This research did not receive any fnancial support Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Open Access: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Introduction Health development aims to increase people’s health rate. It is part of Indonesia’s national development [1], as stated in the Article 28 letter (h) of the 1945 Constitution, that everyone has the right to obtain health services. Furthermore, the Amendment of the 1945 Constitution Article 34 clause (2) states that “The state develops a social security system for all Indonesians.” The social security system is followed up with Law No. 40 of 2004, which proves that the government has a great commitment to achieving social welfare for all citizens [2]. The social security system is run by the Social Security Administrator for Health (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial Kesehatan/BPJS Health) based on Law No. 24 of 2011 Article 5. It aims to protect all citizens with affordable premiums and extensive coverage. The aim of health is to increase the awareness, interest, and ability to live healthily as an investment for the sociological and economic development of productive human resources [3]. Patient satisfaction is a crucial element in evaluating service quality. It is required to assess health services to further develop them [4], [5]. Service quality may be perceived from the harmony between the parameters of the health facility qualities and the legal protection of consumers. This study analyzes the legal protection for BPJS health participants who are hospital inpatients. BPJS health patients are protected by the law, but there are still weaknesses in its implementation. This causes conficts between the patients and the hospital [6]. Due to this confict, there must be a restatement on the rights and obligations of BPJS health participants of the health services in hospitals. This study also discusses their rights and obligations that are yet unfulflled while becoming inpatients in hospitals. Based on the background above, the writers will analyze the legal protection of BPJS health participants by using their rights to obtain satisfactory services in hospitals. Methods Rahayu [7] stated that research is, “A systematic thought on various problems whose resolutions require Since 2002