TAIPEI (TVBS News) — On Tuesday (Dec. 19), Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan announced plans to promote digitalization in healthcare, aligning with national policy directives.
This initiative will include incorporating digital development into one of the five major tasks of medical center evaluations: healthcare quality metrics.
Speaking at the "Virtual National Health Insurance Cards' Digital Innovation Benchmarking and Prospects Sharing Conference" event, Hsueh highlighted the successful pilot of virtual National Health Insurance (NHI) cards during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort is part of a broader commitment to digital policy that supports the national plan, he explained.
MOHW, with backing from the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), is providing technological budget support for the cloud-based transition of health insurance systems at grassroots clinics.
Looking forward, Hsueh hopes Taiwan's digitalization healthcare system will achieve three main goals: reducing manpower on the medical end, improving healthcare quality, and increasing convenience for patients seeking medical services.
Hsueh pointed out that the future strategy of the MOHW will intertwine financial subsidies with policy mandates.
Starting with medical centers, the plan is to encourage the integration of digital development into the healthcare quality assessment of hospital evaluations, with the aspiration of fostering more innovation, reducing labor costs, and enhancing healthcare quality.
