Digital health is increasingly promoted to strengthen health systems in geographically dispersed and underserved settings. In rural and remote Indonesia, digital health interventions may help address persistent constraints in access, continuity, coordination, and information flow. However, how these interventions contribute to health system resilience remains insufficiently synthesised. A scoping review was conducted to map evidence on digital health interventions in rural and remote Indonesia and interpret their reported functions through a health system resilience lens. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for studies published between January 2010 and March 2026. Empirical studies reporting digital health interventions in rural and/or remote Indonesian settings were included. Data were synthesised descriptively and analysed thematically. Resilience was applied as an analytical lens, with studies mapped against service continuity, reach and equity, information flow, frontline adaptation, and system integration. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. Most interventions involved mHealth applications, community-based digital tools, telemedicine, and digital reporting or health information systems. Resilience-relevant contributions were most evident in maintaining service continuity, extending reach, improving information flow, and supporting frontline adaptation. Major barriers included limited connectivity, uneven digital literacy, fragmented systems, and governance and financing challenges. Evidence for system integration, sustainability, and transformative resilience remained limited. In rural and remote Indonesia, digital health appeared to function more clearly as an enabler of operational resilience than as a driver of durable system transformation. Its resilience value depends on institutional embedding, interoperability, governance alignment, sustainable support, and local implementation capacity.
Wasir et al. (Wed,) studied this question.