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Health
Medical Charges and Waivers
Fees for public hospital and clinic services are government-subsidised at a rate of 96.8 per cent. Under a medical fee waiver mechanism, the Hospital Authority grants waivers to needy groups including CSSA recipients, low-income patients, the chronically ill, elderly patients with financial difficulties and, from 2017, older Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) recipients with more financial needs, who were renamed Higher OALA recipients aged 75 or above on 1 June 2018.
Private Hospitals
Private hospitals complement the public sector by providing a range of specialist and hospital services. The 12 private hospitals served 374,732 inpatients in 2017, representing 17 per cent of the city's total number of inpatients. Spending on private inpatient services amounted to $23.6 billion in 2017-18, accounting for 37 per cent of overall expenditure on public and private inpatient services.
Major Developments
Public Hospital Development Projects
In 2018, phase 1 redevelopment of Kwai Chung Hospital and substructure and utilities diversion works for the extension of Tuen Mun Hospital's Operating Theatre Block were substantially completed. Other new or ongoing projects included main works for phase 1 redevelopment of Queen Mary Hospital and the extension of Tuen Mun Hospital's Operating Theatre Block; preparatory works for phase 2 stage 1 redevelopment of Prince of Wales Hospital, redevelopment of Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital and phase 1 redevelopment of Grantham Hospital; preparatory and foundation works for the construction of a new acute hospital at the Kai Tak Development Area; expansion of Haven of Hope Hospital; demolition and substructure works for the expansion of United Christian Hospital and phase 1 redevelopment of Kwong Wah Hospital; refurbishment of Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital; and expansion of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service Headquarters.
Public-private Partnership Programmes
The government takes part in clinical public-private partnership programmes through the Hospital Authority. Services covered include cataract surgery, patient empowerment, haemodialysis, radiological investigation, infirmary services and colon assessment.
The Hospital Authority's General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme subsidises clinically stable patients with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus under the care of its general outpatient clinics so they can opt to receive primary care from the private sector. A total of 378 private doctors and 29,842 patients throughout the 18 districts were participating in the programme in end-2018.
Sharing of Electronic Health Records
The territory-wide Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS) allows public and private healthcare providers to view and share the electronic health records of consenting patients. The eHRSS has been operating smoothly since its commissioning in 2016 and entered stage 2 development in July 2017 to, among other things, widen the sharable scope of data and
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