Information about the enrollment and medical utilization for all patients with catastrophic
illnesses were included in the NHIRD. All information that might potentially identify any indi-
vidual patient was encrypted before the database was released. The confidentiality of the data-
base was in accordance with the data regulations of the Bureau of NHI and the NHRI, Taiwan.
The NHRI guarded the privacy of all beneficiaries and provided health insurance data to re-
searchers who obtained ethical approval.