Social insurance and health insurance are ones of the key policies in the national social security system. Successful implementation of social insurance and health insurance policies contributes to ensuring the social security rights of each citizen, for the sake of national sustainable development. Vietnam Social Insurance takes the lead in administrative reforms, promoting modernization and improvement of the quality and efficiency of implementing social insurance policies, meeting the increasing requirements of people or business.

For most countries in the world, a database of social insurance, which includes social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance is always the pillar of the social security database. The need to improve and modernize the information technology-based public services provision always attracts the governments’ attention of all countries, and it becomes the most important factor for e-government development, management modernization and better serving people and workers.

Modernizing and improving the quality and efficiency of social insurance policy implementation. Photo: VNA

Information technology application, administrative procedures reform, performance improvement in quality and efficiency of officials, public servants and public employees... to create the most favorable conditions for participants in social insurance, health insurance are objectives throughout the process of completing, developing and renewing Vietnamese social insurance system. Recently, Vietnam Social Insurance has strongly implemented the application of information technology to cover most of its professional activities to support people and businesses in dealing with social insurance agencies and to improve the management effectiveness and efficiency to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrial Revolution 4.0).

Before 2015, information technology application of social insurance industry has not been promoted; server systems, software and databases have been dispersed; social insurance agencies at district level have not had any WAN network system connecting the information technology system among agencies. All paper-based requests of people and businesses, once received, are transferred through the "one-door, one stop" mechanism or directly to the officials in expert bureaus, to process and approve applications. This leads to difficulties in managing participants, especially when they change their workplace or residence. Payment files inspection of health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment is conducted manually through paper-based forms at a rate of about 20% of total payment request files. The abuse of social insurance payments occur frequently, therefore, balance-sheet reports and inspections are done manually.

Resolution No. 68/2013/QH13 dated November 29, 2013 by the National Assembly on Strict enforcement of regulations and policies on health insurance towards the universal health coverage; Resolution No. 36a/NQ-CP, dated October 14, 2015, of the Government, on E-government; Resolution No. 19-2017/NQ-CP, dated February 6, 2017, of the Government, on The continuous implementation of key tasks and solutions to improve the business climate and enhance the national competitiveness in 2017, with an orientation towards 2020 set a roadmap and steps in modernizing the social insurance industry. These resolutions require the implementation of electronic transactions in the settlement of social insurance and health insurance policies; its outcomes are a 33,33% reduction in times and a 50% reduction in hours of implementing administrative procedures in the field of social insurance and health insurance collection; connecting information technology system between social insurance agencies and medical examination and treatment establishments in order to improve administrative procedures in medical examination and treatment; improving the effectiveness of health insurance assessment; building and applying e-government architecture (2.0); considering issuing electronic health insurance cards and integrating social insurance and unemployment insurance information; building and operating an electronic database to manage social insurance centrally and synchronously throughout the country.

On May 22, 2015, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 714/QD-TTg promulgating a list of 6 national databases requiring priority development to establish the base for e-government development, including a national insurance database; Decision No. 274/QD-TTg, dated 12 March 2019, of the Prime Minister, approving the National Public Service Portal Scheme also identifies the national insurance database as an important one to provide identity services for the National Public Service Portal.

Currently, with more than 89% of people participating in health insurance and nearly 15 million people participate in social insurance, moving towards implementing universal social insurance in the spirit of reforming social insurance policies, promoting the application of information technology and modernizing social insurance to improve the quality of service for social insurance and health insurance participants has become an urgent requirement.

In response to the request of the National Assembly, the Government and the practical requirements of the social and health insurance policies building and implementing processes - the basic pillars of the social security system and the goal of modernization in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of the social insurance policies implementation, it has become the political determination of the whole social insurance industry in Vietnam with the desire to innovate and develop comprehensively, publicly, transparently, and to improve the people’s satisfaction.

With the requirements and goals set out, Vietnam Social Insurance has mainly focused on deploying information technology application within almost major professional operations: electronic transactions in collecting social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance and social insurance, and granting social insurance book and health insurance cards; e-inspection of medical examination and treatment expenses covered by health insurance through the health insurance assessment information system; digitizing archives; designing financial accounting software, document management ... Technical facilities and information technology infrastructure are fully equipped and effectively operated.

An important professional software system is set up under the centralized data model to manage important areas of the industry, invest synchronously in infrastructure, software and database to issue an identifier to each participants respectively in social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance in the numbers identification system, the health insurance management system for participating households and hiring information technology services for household databases participating in health insurance.

Thirdly, the health insurance assessment information system works effectively, bringing great benefits but needs more close cooperation from partner industries, such as the health sector andmedical examination and treatment facilities. The transference and connection of data to medical facilities is almost 100% guaranteed, but some medical facilities have not sent electronic data in accordance with regulations. Some records are not updated as soon as the patient is discharged ...

Secondly, continuing to invest in technology in accordance with standards to have a modern information system and to ensure information security. Building regulations on rescue and response coordination to information security incidents, having a process to coordinate with relevant agencies and units, such as the computer emergency response team, the Department of information safety for broad-based coordination. The social insurance industry needs a comprehensive attention on the application of information technology, modernizing the social insurance industry to improve the quality and efficiency of implementing social insurance policies, meeting the needs of people and businesses.

Promoting administrative procedure reform, providing online public services at level 4 in all areas of social insurance and unemployment insurance; completing and promoting the connection of the national insurance database with the relevant database systems in order to better serve the implementation of policies and research in policymaking. Continuing to modernize social insurance management, investing in developing technologies and advanced management methods in organizing the implementation of social insurance and unemployment insurance. Promptly preventing fraud andscam from profiteering social insurance policies and unemployment insurance, creating and boosting the confidence of people and businesses in social insurance industry activities, building trust in the superiority and humanities of the Party and State’s social and health insurance policies for the purpose of ensuring sustainable social security for all people./.