A delegation led by National Health Insurance Administration Director General Lee Po-chang arrived in the U.S. on Oct. 7 and began a six-day visit. The itinerary includes the Washington, D.C. office of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as a medical care symposium at George Washington University. Director General Lee was also invited by many overseas Chinese groups to deliver a keynote speech about the future of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system at the Culture Center of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office in the U. S.

Director General Lee said that he visited with Hugh Auchincloss, Principal Deputy Director of the NIH’s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease on Oct. 8 and talked about possible collaborations in medical big data.

Director General Lee said that in the past 20 years, Taiwan’s MediCloud has collected a sizable cache of patient data and that great contributions toward medical research can be had through analysis of the data.

Currently, the NHIA’s plan is to release the data to be analyzed by artificial intelligence and that such projects have begun in Taiwan, Director General Lee said, noting that the NHIA is developing rapport with the U.S. on collaborative projects in the future.

Regarding the symposium at George Washington University, Director General Lee said that antibiotic resistance, a closely monitored area of U.S. health authorities, was the main topic of discussion. Throughout the event, U.S. officials expressed envy of Taiwan’s NHI datasets, as they make it possible for hospitals to quickly report discoveries of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) patients to the CDC for closer analysis, according to Director General Lee. By cross-referencing data sets, the government is able to analyze AMR cases and formulate contingency plans with the Council of Agriculture.

Director General Lee noted that while data breaches have been among concerns that have turned government agencies reluctant towards NHI data projects, he emphasized that the datasets have many applications and that the government will implement sound management to ensure the people’s privacy.

【2019-10-13 /CNA】