Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

The National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan is one of the few population-wide resources worldwide that provides complete, longitudinal records of reimbursed Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) care. The database contains detailed prescription records for Chinese herbal products, which are standardized granule forms of single herbs or classical formulas, including product codes, daily doses, days supplied, and patient co-payments. Importantly, these TCM data are linked with Western medicine records, including prescriptions, procedures, hospitalizations, and mortality, allowing integrative pharmacoepidemiologic studies such as the evaluation of herb–drug interactions, safety monitoring, and the real-world effectiveness of TCMs.