Dr. Reza Raei, Chief Deputy Managing Director of the ISSO, welcomed the attendants in the Technical Seminar and addressed the delegates of national and international ISSA member organizations: Provided initiatives and solutions by the ISSA have been considered in the process of compiling the strategic plan and operational program of the ISSO  during  the  last 3 years.

The Chief Deputy Managing Director, introducing the Iranian Social Security Organization to the participants of the Technical seminar on Administrative and Operational Efficiency, remarked that: The ISSO as a non-governmental public entity is administratively and financially independent and the governmental bureaucratic procedures are not imposed to this organization.

Covering more than 41 million persons out of total 80 million population of the country, Coverage Extension is the principal approach of the Iranian Social Security Organization.

Explaining the variety of the ISSO insurance benefits and medical services, he continued: The ISSO fund resource is mainly financed through contribution payment made by insured and the employers.

The ISSO insurance benefits are provided to the insured population through 530 insurance branches besides 200 sub-branches by 20 thousand employees.

The direct health care services are provided through the ISSO-owned healthcare providers consist of 70 hospitals and 273 clinics. The ISSO insured individuals may also benefit from the indirect health care services provided by contracted public and private health care providers, the major cost of which is paid by the Iranian Social Security Organization. In this regard, the ISSO is the second health care provider and the first health care purchaser organization in the country.

Dr. Raei also described the ISSO capabilities and potentials in the field of ICT and added: The individual multi-functional smart card will be provided to the insured population in a short time. The electronic smart card contains the insured identification data, medical records, prescribed medicine, and the individual bank account data. The multi-functional smart card will be used as the cell phone SIM card as well. Currently, the pilot project of health smart card is being administrated in some provinces successfully.

Furthermore, he stated that: The Iranian social security organization is a  multi-dimensional entity which is actively performing in the insurance, health, economic and investment domains.

The economic and investment activities of the ISSO are also very efficient and influential on the national economy. For example the value of the ISSO-owned securities and stocks is equal to the value of 10 percent of the total securities and stocks provided by the Iranian  Securities and Exchange Organization.

Finally, the Chief Deputy Managing Director of the ISSO, emphasizing the remarkable outcomes and products of the ISSO affiliated companies, asserted: Today, 70 percent of pharmaceutical requirements as well as 50 percent of the required cement of the country are produced by the ISSO affiliated companies.