The NHI card puts the medical treatment and certification functions of the previous four cards/booklets—the old paper NHI card, the Children's Health Manual, Maternal Health Booklet, and Card for Severe Illness, all on the same card. No matter the status, the cardholder only needs to carry one certificate when seeing a doctor. Also, the NHI card can record the cardholder's personal medical expenses, insured and payment status, and copayment. The hospital can use the accumulated copayment so that when the limit of the specified annual hospital copayment is reached, it can no longer be charged. In addition to reducing the burden on the public, this also avoids having the public pay the copayment first and then having to wait until the next year to apply to the NHIA for a refund exceeding the limit.
| 1.Prescription and Examination Records |
| The NHI Card stores records of medication usage and past examinations for doctors to use as a reference when they treat a patient so that they don't duplicate prescriptions or tests. This helps safeguard patient safety, improve health care quality and reduce medical waste. |
| 2.Treatment Records |
| The NHI Card serves as the authoritative record of treatment under the National Health Insurance program, recording all doctor visits. When a patient receives health care, an allotted visit is normally deducted from the card, but if the attending physician enters on the card "clinic referral," "post surgery outpatient follow-up visit," or "hospitalization clinic follow-up visit," the subsequent visit is not deducted from the card total. |
| 3.Catastrophic Illness Record |
| Records of a patient's catastrophic illness are directly entered into the NHI Card, enabling patients with such illnesses who present their NHI Card when getting care for the disease to be treated without having to pay a co-payment. Individuals covered by the National Health Insurance program who have applied for and received catastrophic illness certification can ask clinics or hospitals to update their NHI Cards if the cards do not include the catastrophic illness information. Cards can also be updated to include the catastrophic illness designation at any location where a card reader is available, such as any National Health Insurance Administration regional division or village, town, city or area administrative office. |
| 4.Organ Donation or Palliative Care Registration Information |
| Individuals who are willing to donate organs can register with the ROC Organ Procurement Association or Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center, and those who are willing to accept hospice care can register with the Taiwan Hospice Organization. Those organizations transfer the information to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which then sends it to NHIA's database. That information can then be entered into the NHI Card when the card is updated, helping medical workers know immediately should the situation arise if patients are willing to donate their organs or agree to palliative care. |
| 5.NHI Card Auditing Mechanism |
| If individuals are not enrolled in the National Health Insurance program, any health care they receive will not be covered by the National Health Insurance program. Under these circumstances, once the allotted visit on a NHI Card has run out, it cannot be updated until you re-register in the program or pay any overdue premiums. To ensure your medical benefits, please be sure to complete enrollment procedures as soon as possible. |
| 6.Online Service Application and Registration through the NHI Card |
| The National Health Insurance Administration website has set up a "Personal NHI Online Services" network so the public may apply for various online insurance services using their "citizen digital certificate." Online services accessed by a "password registered NHI card," which enables the public to apply for and use services online, were made available on February 4, 2015. |