Applying for virtual health insurance card for medical treatment is reassuring and convenient

        It has been 18 years since the chip health insurance card was issued. With the progress of digital technology and the change of people's living habits, the National Health Insurance Department has launched a pilot project of "virtual health insurance card medical treatment mode" since 2019 to solve the dilemma of people forgetting to bring their health insurance card when seeking medical treatment, and to meet the needs of people for safe medical treatment under the epidemic situation.

        Xiao Ming returned to Kaohsiung to visit his relatives during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. He suffered from heatstroke, dizziness and vomiting due to playing outside all day. Even after resting in the shade and replenishing water, his symptoms did not improve, so he hurried to the nearby clinic for medical treatment. When he was registered, he found that he had forgotten to bring his health insurance card. He thought he needed to pay a deposit or go to the hospital at his own expense. Fortunately, the clinic has participated in the "virtual health insurance card" program implemented by the national health insurance department. With the help of the staff, Xiao Ming successfully completed the visit with the QR code of the virtual health insurance card, eliminating the trouble of applying for refund of the deposit or checking and refunding the self prepaid medical expenses in the future.

        Since 2019, the National Health Insurance Department has promoted the virtual health insurance card as one of the support functions of the "health passbook" in the "national health insurance action express" app. The scope of use includes "telemedicine", "home care" and "video outpatient". Anyone who applies for a virtual health insurance card can have the remote doctor check the health insurance information and conduct video diagnosis and treatment by simply showing the QR code through the mobile phone. For the elderly or people without mobile phones, the National Health Insurance Department has also developed an authorization mechanism to allow family members and accompanying patients to help patients seek medical treatment, reduce the troubles of caregivers and keep complete records, so that they will no longer worry about losing their health insurance cards. Under the influence of covid-19 epidemic, the use of virtual health insurance cards can also reduce the frequency of people going to the hospital, and solve the problems of multiple contacts with health insurance cards during visits.

        The launching of virtual health insurance cards does not affect the use of physical health insurance cards. However, the health insurance department also stressed that as the relevant systems are not yet complete, it is recommended to check the list of cooperating medical institutions online or call in advance for confirmation before using them. In the future, it will be extended to more than 1000 medical institutions in Taiwan, so that more people can enjoy convenient medical treatment.

        Four steps for using QR code of virtual health insurance card:

        Download the "national health insurance action express" app.

        Click "virtual health insurance card" in the "health passbook" of the app and verify your identity.

        Agree to the personal information statement and upload personal photos.

        Show the QR code of the virtual health insurance card in the app for registration, consultation, examination and drug receiving.

        Virtual health insurance card zone: https://www.nhi.gov.tw/Content_List.aspx?n=2707F863102CBFE7&topn=787128DAD5F71B1A

        (source: central health insurance agency, Ministry of health and welfare)

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