Positive feedback and review

On May 31, 2021, based on the opinions and coordination of the Ministry of Health (MoH), the VSS issued Official Letter No. 1493/BHXH-CSYT to the social security agencies of the provinces and centrally-run cities; Social Security Offices of Ministry of National Defense and the People's Public Security on the use of health insurance cards' images on VssID - the digital social insurance application for medical treatment covered by health insurance nationwide from June 1, 2021. This information, when published on the mass media and social networks, has received special attention and enthusiasm from the people.

As in the reliminary statistics of the Media Center (VSS), from 5:00 pm on May 31, 2021 to 4:30 pm on June 1, 2021, more than 50 newspapers, magazines, and news sites have published information about the above event and gained the attention and comments of a large number of readers. On social networks like Facebook, Zalo, etc., there were also people uploading and sharing widely about the event. On the VSS's fanpage alone, the post with title "Officially using the health insurance card image on VssID for medical treatment under health insurance from June 1, 2021" has gathered nearly 1,000 shares and approached hundreds of thousands of people.

Reported on the mass media and social networks, most of the people's comments highly appreciated the fact that the VSS and the MoH have come to the agreement to deploy the use of the image of the health insurance card on VssID in medical treatment under health insurance.

Illustrative image

Reader DungKa shared: “The technology application is very good. I have downloaded and registered successfully. I can view my insurance payment history as well as my medical treatment history.” Sharing the same opinion, reader Quoc Viet Pham commented: "It is very convenient for people to come to receive treatment". For reader Delta, this is "a favorable change bringing joy".

Many people also assessed that this change represents positive administrative reform and IT application, which is suitable for the digital age and limits paper documents and records. Reader Huycuong shared: "This is good, suitable for the digital age, limiting the carrying of papers, which is both annoying and inconvenient. I remember a few years ago there were cases of fraud on health insurance cards… but thanks to this, those will no longer be possible to happen”.

Having successfully installed and registered a VssID account, Mr. Phung Hieu Anh (31 years old, Dong Ngac, Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi) said: "When I found out that the health insurance card image on the application will be used for medical treatment, I was very pleased because my paper health insurance card was currently in Bac Ninh. But the province has been undergoing a COVID-19 epidemic breakout, so I can't go there to get it. But now being able to have the health insurance card on the VssID app helps me feel more secure in the complicated situation of the epidemic. I think, not only me, but many people are also happy to have this option, and we no longer have to worry about losing or damaging our health insurance cards.”

Having a chance to use the health insurance card on VssID application for medical treatment at Ha Tinh General Hospital on June 1, 2021, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh (Mai Phu commune, Loc Ha district, Ha Tinh province) shared: “Last week, I was propagated by the social security officers of Loc Ha district on the VssID app and guided to install it. I find the application very useful and when I found out that it can also be used in health insurance, I find it even more useful. Today, I went to the doctor and tried this feature and found it very convenient. I just need to open the VssID application, click on the health insurance card section then give it to the hospital's receptionist to be registered for medical treatment, without having to declare my name and address."

Constant improvement

It can be seen that the image of the health insurance card on the VssID application being used in medical treatment is highly appreciated by the people. According to statistics from the IT Center (VSS), from 5:00 p.m. on May 31, 2021 to 5:00 p.m. on June 1, 2021, the number of downloads of VssID on application stores has reached nearly 500,000, higher than the average of 250,000 - 300,000 downloads daily and is still increasing. Currently, the total number of downloads of VssID nationwide has reached over 8.1 million, showing that the application is increasingly being accepted by people and workers.

In response to that trust and acceptance, over the past time, the VSS has continuously improved and upgraded the VssID application to bring better utilities and experiences to users and certainly upgrades and improvements will be continued in the future.

Since its launch in November 2020, up to now, the VssID application has constantly upgraded. Currently, the application is a convenient service on smartphone devices with many features and utilities to flexibly serve the essential information needs of participants and beneficiaries of social and health insurance policies such as: information about health insurance cards; the process of participating in social insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational accident and disease insurance, health insurance; information on lump-sum allowances (sickness, maternity, occupational accident and disease); medical record book that provides the participant's health insurance history, etc.

Along with that, VssID also provides lookup utilities such as: Social insurance codes; social security agencies; medical facilities that sign contracts for medical treatment under health insurance; medical facilities that issue leave certificates to enjoy social insurance benefits; units participating in social insurance; collection sites, collection agencies for voluntary social insurance and household-based health insurance; re-issuance of health insurance cards due to damage or loss; relocate sites to enjoy pensions and social insurance benefits; change the form of receipt or information of the beneficiaries of social insurance, etc.

In particular, after the last two upgrades, up to now, for version 1.5.3, VssID has added many handy features such as: Allow users to register for electronic transactions with the social security agency (register on the application, without going through the Public Service Portal; support to look up, scan QR codes of health insurance cards, ID cards to automatically fill in information (social insurance number, full name, ID number, address); add option to send email declaration, etc.); invitation to install VssID; re-issuance of social insurance books due to damage or loss, etc. With version 1.5.4, the application adds a feature that allows users to register an electronic transaction account for their children; Especially, the feature of displaying personal pictures at the "Use health insurance card" screen helps the use of health insurance card images for health care become more convenient and strict.

The official implementation of using the health insurance card image on the VssID application for medical care nationwide is a direction that is really in line with the requirements of administrative reform and digital transformation of the Vietnamese social insurance industry. Card users now no longer worry about losing or forgetting their health insurance cards as happened to the paper ones; at the same time, it helps to reduce the time for medical check-up procedures for both participants and medical facilities, as the QR code's resolution and the display brightness to clarify the information on the health insurance card are automatically increased. In particular, this implementation is especially important in helping people limit traveling and face-to-face transactions with the social security agency for activities related to paper health insurance cards in the context of the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic.