Digital technology has been widely used in health care systems and disease management, as well as in controlling the spread of COVID-19. As one of the most successful countries in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan has successfully used digital technology to strengthen its efforts in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan has a well-established National Health Insurance System (NHIS), which provides a great opportunity to develop a nationwide data linkage model in an agile manner. Here we provide an overview of the application of data linkage models for strategies in combating COVID-19 in Taiwan, including NHIS centralized data linkage systems and "from border to community" information-driven data linkage systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we discuss the dual role of digital technologies in being an "enabler" and a "driver" in early disease prevention. Lastly, Taiwan's experience in applying digital technology to enhance the control of COVID-19 potentially highlights lessons learned and opportunities for other countries to handle the COVID-19 situation better.
Keywords: COVID-19; National Health Insurance System; Taiwan; data linkage; digital health; digital technology; infectious disease; management; prevention; spread.
©Wei-Cheng Lo, Fu-Chung Wang, Li-Yin Lin, Hong-Wei Jyan, Hsuan-Chien Wu, Yao-Liang Huang, I-Ming Parng, Hung-Yi Chiou. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 07.05.2021.