In the post-pandemic era, the Hospital Authority, by upholding its core values of “people-centered care”, “professional service”, “committed staff”, and “teamwork”, moves forward in promoting the sustainable development of the public healthcare system, while holding steadfast to its commitment to provide affordable and high-quality healthcare services to Hong Kong residents.
The Hospital Authority (HA) Convention 2024 on May 16-17 marked a milestone in making Hong Kong a better and healthier place in the world, where artificial intelligence is playing a role to make a real difference.
Given the fast-evolving future of healthcare and the paradigm shift in the service delivery model, we must upgrade our hardware to increase service capacity on the one hand, whilst developing an agile workforce in the new era and reorientating our service delivery model on the other. This will be achieved by leveraging on big data, advanced technology and artificial intelligence to improve health outcomes and enhance operational efficiency.
People are at the heart of healthcare. The HA has strengthened its recruitment efforts for healthcare professionals worldwide, and the significant progress is making a tangible improvement in serving the public. More than 200 nonlocally trained doctors (NLTDs) are expected to join the HA in the coming year. The HA has launched the Global Healthcare Talent Scheme, offering medium-term exchange opportunities for NLTDs to join us. Around 30 NLTDs joining the program will be exposed to cutting-edge medical technologies and research experiences in nine specialties across 10 of our hospitals.
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During the pandemic, the medical support team from the mainland lent a hand in the hard times of fighting the epidemic, which laid the foundation for future cooperation. Over the past year, about 100 doctors, nurses, radiographers, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners from the mainland have completed their exchanges under the framework of Greater Bay Area Healthcare Talents Visiting Programmes. Thirteen senior GBA TCM experts of various specialties came to Hong Kong to share their knowledge and expertise by providing in-depth clinical training to over 100 local Chinese medicine practitioners under the “clinical apprenticeship” program, which aimed to enhance professional communication and expertise exchanges between the healthcare professionals across the border. As a result, the talent pool of medical professionals in the GBA as a whole will be sustainably increased.
The HA is actively pursuing the first Hospital Development Plan of about $200 billion, which will add about 6,000 additional hospital beds and 90 operating theaters
In the face of workforce shortages in the medical sector, the HA has all along demonstrated our ongoing commitment to investing in human capital through training and development, aiming to maintain a robust talent pool of diverse, cohesive and competent healthcare staff. Together with attracting new blood and facilitating the inflow of diverse talents from different regions, HA will continue to contribute to help reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as a talent hub full of opportunities for our valuable healthcare professionals.
Regarding hardware, the HA will continue to upgrade its hospital facilities to enhance capacity and service capabilities. The HA is actively pursuing the first Hospital Development Plan of about $200 billion, which will add about 6,000 additional hospital beds and 90 operating theaters. In parallel, the HA is planning the second Hospital Development Plan, with a budget of $270 billion.
The HA has also been actively deploying various advanced information technology, digital technology and AI infrastructure in order to enable smart care and enhance productivity. So far, more than 20 key smart hospital products co-deliverable by all hospitals have been implemented, which are shared by all hospitals. Another success is the HA mobile application, HA Go, which can be used to book and check appointments at HA hospitals or clinics, pay HA bills and drug fees, etc. Currently, there are more than 2.5 million registered users of HA Go, whose patients can be empowered to manage their own health at their fingertips.
TCM has all along been an integral part of Hong Kong’s healthcare system, and has played an important role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The HA will continue to promote the development of Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine (ICWM). In line with the government’s strategic direction to promote the development of ICWM, its services have been regularized and expanded to 26 public hospitals across the seven clusters. The number of service sites has increased from eight to 53.
As the cornerstone of excellent healthcare services, my deep appreciation goes to all our colleagues for their dedicated efforts, openness toward organizational changes and concerted actions in realizing our strategic goals and fostering a culture of excellence under the dynamic healthcare environment
Under the service framework, TCM practitioners (TCMPs) and WM doctors will collaborate in formulating clinical treatment protocols for each of the selected disease areas. They will team up to jointly assess the eligibility of inpatients for CM treatment, and conduct joint ward rounds and consultations. To facilitate collaboration, the TCMPs will review patients’ clinical records of patients in the HA Clinical Management System and input CM clinical notes.
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Under the direction of the HA Board’s Task Group on Sustainability, the HA is implementing various strategies to move toward a sustainable healthcare service that helps people stay healthy. The HA will not be complacent and will continue to look for ways to improve performance and efficiency improvement. In this regard, we will continue to evaluate our service outcomes and funding utilization at different levels, and develop internal service cost control and benchmarking. We are reshaping the future of healthcare from provider-centric to patient-centric, from conventional to smart and digitalized, and from within to beyond the hospital walls.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our chairman, Henry Fan, and members of the HA Board for their guidance and support, and to all the stakeholders who have contributed to the success of HA, including the National Health Commission, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Health Bureau, counterparts on the mainland across various provinces and municipalities, and our global partners, for their unwavering support.
As the cornerstone of excellent healthcare services, my deep appreciation goes to all our colleagues for their dedicated efforts, openness toward organizational changes and concerted actions in realizing our strategic goals and fostering a culture of excellence under the dynamic healthcare environment. With the persistent determination of all members of the HA and the support of the community, we have every confidence to carry forward the mission of building a brighter future of sustainable public healthcare.
The author, a geriatrician, is chief executive of the Hospital Authority.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
