National Health Insurance Databases in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines

Social health insurance administrative databases were established in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines in 2014, 2017 and 2012, respectively; however, these databases have been scarcely used for research, if at all. This study explored the feasibility and accessibility of using these databases for scientific research, highlighting challenges and barriers in their use.

The databases included in this evaluation comprised the Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) from Indonesia, Vietnam Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) from Vietnam and PhilHealth from the Philippines. These databases were qualitatively assessed based on the data capture, potential linkage to other databases or registries, data access and extraction, privacy and security, and quality and validation procedures.

All databases contain population-based cohort data on the medical costs of reimbursed medical conditions, identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes. Linkage to other national databases, ensuring protection of patient privacy data, would improve their usability. Duration to database access and data extraction varies from country to country. The main limitations of all databases include the short span of data records, and the unknown degree of internal validity. Both JKN and PhilHealth databases capture bundled claims, inherently excluding information on prescriptions and out-of-pocket expenditure. Due to the recent establishment of the VHIS database, it may not be suitable for studies that intend to explore trends.

The JKN, VHIS and PhilHealth databases offer population-based, financial, utilization, and demographic data, which could provide valuable epidemiological and pharmacoeconomic insights if the findings are interpreted within the limitations of each database.