General Director of the Vietnam Social Security Nguyen Thi Minh inspects the operation of the IT management centre. This year, the VSS will focus on administrative reform and IT applications in order to improve the quality of its services. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – It is hard for the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) to complete its tasks without information-technology applications, given the huge workload thrust on its limited staff.

This year, the VSS will focus on administrative reform and IT applications in order to improve the quality of its services.

Streamlining administrative procedures

The social security sector has regarded administrative reform as a task throughout 2019.

VSS General Director Nguyen Thi Minh said administrative reform helps the sector manage and shorten the time of handling procedures regarding social, health and unemployment insurance for participants.

According to VSS Deputy General Director Dao Viet Anh, social, health and unemployment insurance is serving over 83.5 people or about 88.5 percent of the national population, with premium collection and payment increasing tens of trillions of dong each year. 

The workload piles up each year while the staff remains unchanged, he said. Therefore, it is hard for the VSS to complete its tasks without IT applications, even when its staff has to work overtime.

Since 2014, the VSS has cut 75 percent of administrative procedures, from 115 in the year to 33 in 2015, 32 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 2018, and 27 last year. The time for administrative procedures was also reduced from 335 hours in 2014 to only 147 in 2018

[Health insurance coverage reaches 90 percent of population] 

Initially, it took participants at least 20 days to get social insurance books and seven days to get health insurance cards. The time was shortened to five days for both types, with only two days for unemployment allowance beneficiaries.

IT is the key

The VSS has considered the simplification of administrative procedures, IT application and apparatus reform the jobs that must come together.

Thanks to IT application in operation, the agency has conducted online transactions with more than 90 percent of participating units, connected with more than 13,000 medical facilities and computerised most of its fields.

The VSS inaugurates the national database on residents, businesses and insurance. Once the specialised database is connected with each other, and a legal framework for the data sharing and connectivity is completed, these obstacles would be removed. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Notably, in the third quarter of 2019, it officially launched a website for online transactions in order to further help employers with online social insurance transactions, and began to offer online transactions to individuals during the handling of procedures for social insurance benefits.

A SMS system has also been set up to connect people and businesses with social insurance agencies. Besides, the digitalisation has also been implemented within the sector.

The VSS has so far provided 12 online public services at the fourth level (service payments can be made online. Transaction results are available either online or by post, on request), and six services at the third level (applicants can fill in and submit the forms online).

However, the VSS said, its administrative reform met a range of obstacles last year, which has affected the rise of public services at the fourth level.

Once national database on residents, businesses and insurance are connected with each other, and a legal framework for the data sharing and connectivity is completed, these obstacles would be removed, it stressed.

Besides, the VSS has focused on personnel training as administrative reform requires better personnel quality. However, it is hard to recruit good-quality students, especially those who major in IT, health and pharmaceuticals.

Anh said the VSS will continue to streamline administrative procedures and support employers in online transactions, Anh said.

It will also assess the satisfaction of people and organisations in services to evaluate the quality of social insurance services.

The VSS will devise mechanisms to attract good students, especially those in IT, while stepping up personnel training./.