National Health Insurance Plays Critical Role in Taiwan’s COVID- 19 Prevention

---

20/May/2020

Taiwan’s extensive deployment of digital governance in areas including immigration, customs and national health insurance (NHI) became the critical tools for the nation’s efforts to fend off the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

First launched in 1995, the NHI is a social medical insurance system that covers everyone in the country, ensuring equal right to healthcare for all. Operated by the government, with a minimum premium of US$25/month, the insured are entitled to all necessary healthcare services, from almost 30,000 medical institutions throughout the country. The high accountability and easy access have earned the system applauses at home and abroad.

In order to keep such a vast network up and running effectively, it was necessary to adopt sophisticated computing systems and the latest technologies as the backbone of the network. For instance, the NHI adopted cloud technology in 2013 and has since been building and perfecting an electronic medical record system called the “PharmaCloud”, which later on developed into the “MediCloud”. It is a patient centered system that allows doctors from different medical institutions to access the complete medical record of the insured seeking medical advice or treatment.

International Integrated Systems, Inc. (IISI), was the creator of the system. Using advanced ICT for system implementation and software development, IISI went beyond healthcare to specialize in various fields including the public sector, financial sector, smart city, and telecom & internet services. Cooperating with global IT service providers, IISI offers worldwide customers competitive and intelligent solutions. In fact, apart from III, IBM and Chunghwa Telecom, the largest telecommunication company in Taiwan, are also the major shareholders of IISI. See more at: http://www.iisigroup.com/

When a person enrolls in the National Health Insurance program, they

 

have to apply for a National Health Insurance Card as well, which must be presented when visiting a medical institution. The use of NHI cards began in 2004. A chip is embedded in the card that stores basic information, healthcare data and medical data of the insured, as well as information from the health administration. These are imperative when seeking professional medical services in Taiwan. In fact, its great versatility has expanded the scope from pure medical usage to even the annual tax return, and recently the face mask total amount control during the COVID-19 prevention campaign. Taiwan officials also integrated the NHI database with immigration and customs database, which enabled medical facilities including hospitals and pharmacies to access to the travel history for their patients and customers when scanning their NHI cards, and may respond accordingly to prevent transmissions and institutional infections.

Features of NHI Cards

 

Only a handful of Taiwanese businesses have been contracted to implement the NHI IC card system. The current company is TECO Smart Technologies Co., Ltd. (TST). Established in 2002, TST is one of the most experienced IC card makers and solution providers in Taiwan. TST was also one of the contractors for the Taiwan freeway electronic toll collection card. The company also provides IC cards for ATM cards and credit cards. In 2009, TST expanded its business to the Philippines, contracted by the government to issue 12 million Unified Multi-purpose ID cards. See more at: http://www.tecosmart.com.tw/en/index.php

As a major ICT powerhouse in the world, incorporating the latest technologies to reinforce the implementation of policies has long been a feature of the Taiwan government. The NHI Administration introduced a personalized cloud service called “My Health Bank” in 2014. The insured can go online or use a smart phone app to obtain their latest medical information and insurance status. By providing the insured access to their medical records and health information, My Health Bank empowers people to better control and manage their health status. This service balances the information asymmetry between doctors and patients, making medical care safer, better and more transparent.

The NHIA released the software development kits (SDK) for “My Health Bank” in 2019 to encourage the effective usage of all the medical big data collected, anticipating a broader medical information application and management, with the ultimate goal of improving public health. Three application developers have already interfaced with the My Health Bank SDK. Through We Care, an application developed by La Vida Tec Co., Ltd., the insured can download their medical data from My Health Bank and share it with experts recommended by AI to ask questions and acquire feedback; Health2Sync is an application developed by H2 Inc., which provides diabetes management services; H2U Health Bank, developed by H2U Club, is an application that allows businesses to care for the health of their employees. See more at:

La Vida Tec Co., Ltd.: https://www.wacare.live/en/ H2 Inc.: https://www.health2sync.com/?lang=en-us

H2U Club: https://www.h2u.com.tw/site/index_en.html

***TAITRA, your reliable partner for doing business with Taiwan, has a

 

global network of 63 branch offices dedicated to helping you connect with quality Taiwan partners, suppliers, products, and services. Contact an office near you: https://lnkd.in/eRfrjzb

 

***MEDICAL TAIWAN, scheduled to take place in October 15-17 in 2020, at TaiNEX 2, Taipei, Taiwan, is a complete International Medical, Health and Care tradeshow to showcase Taiwan's medical innovation and technology, featuring healthcare products, medical devices & equipment, assistive products, and smart medical solutions. See more at: https://www.medicaltaiwan.com.tw/

***AGExpo, the first-ever exhibition in Malaysia that showcases smart medical devices, rehabilitation equipment, health food and supplement, and long-term care services tailored to the ASEAN senior market. See more at: https://agexpo.com.my/

***As of today, May 20, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in more than 4,921,252 confirmed cases worldwide. As of writing, a total of 440 confirmed cases were reported in Taiwan, with 38 consecutive days of ZERO domestic transmissions, 349 imported cases, 7 deceased cases, 402 cases released from isolation, and the remainder hospitalized in stable condition. See the latest update: https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En