Four Strategic Directions under eHealth+ Five Year-Plan

We will take forward eHealth+ development in accordance with the patient-centric principle and four strategic directions, namely, One Health Record, One Care Journey, One Digital Front Door to Empowering Tool and One Health Data Repository.

• One Health Record

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  Under “One Health Record” strategy, our goal is to consolidate the longitudinal electronic health records of a patient spread across a multitude of healthcare processes into his/her personalised eHealth account. A comprehensive electronic health record profile enables patients and healthcare providers healthcare providers to make informed decisions and respond to the health needs of patients more effectively, thus improving clinical outcome and saving costs. To fully unleash the potential of electronic health records , we will take forward initiatives to further expand and deepen the existing pool of data domains by enhancing the level of participation of citizens and private healthcare providers as well as their respective data contribution to eHealth, and expand the data sharing scope to cover more types of electronic health records to provide a broader view of the health and wellness of an individual.

• One Care Journey

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  “One Care Journey” strategy aims to reshape the way healthcare is now delivered by building an effective IT infrastructure that runs through the entire healthcare journey and links to different sectors and tiers of the healthcare system, facilitating citizens’ participation in different health programmes and allowing them to have complete control of their care journey. The strategy is particularly important for developing the district-based family-centric community health system recommended in the Primary Healthcare (PHC) Blueprint. eHealth+ will support the roles of PHC providers in helping patients navigate each tier of the healthcare system for suitable services and serving as a gate-keeper to the public secondary care services.

• One Digital Front-door to Empowering Tool

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  Under “One Digital Front-door to Empowering tool”, our goal is to leverage eHealth App and its reach to the wider community service network to bolster the Government’s efforts in building a Primary Healthcare-centric system. eHealth App will become the integrated health tool for citizens to gain access to medical services at different locations, manage their health service processes and take control of their health information, monitor their health condition, and take active steps to prevent diseases and build a healthier lifestyle.

• One Health Data Repository

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  Under “One Health Data Repository”, eHealth+ will establish a centralised, dynamic and secure databank with a population-wide health dataset of Hong Kong people, supported by data analytic tools. We will also establish under the prevailing legal framework a secure mechanism, with access control, which safeguards the privacy of personal data and information security. The databank will mainly serve to support medical research, clinical trials and innovations by academia, research institutions as well as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and healthcare policy formulation by the Government. We will work to establish an analytics platform with appropriate tools (e.g. artificial intelligence and machine learning) and develop an appropriate governance framework to ensure the safe and appropriate use of data with patients’ consent and sufficient safeguards for data security and personal data privacy.

Nine Core Functions of eHealth+

To provide better healthcare services for our citizens, an integrated service platform will be set up under eHealth+ to facilitate care coordination, cross-sector collaboration, health management and health surveillance, bringing about a seamless and personalised care journey for each individual. We will launch the following nine core functions to support every key stage or touchpoint of the care journey, from building health awareness and scheduling appointments to receiving follow-up care as well as continued monitoring –

• eBooking/ eReferral

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  eHealth+ will allow patients to schedule appointments electronically with private and public healthcare providers in a one-stop and round-the-clock manner. eHealth+ will also offer a real-time and secured eReferral system linking family doctors, Chinese medicine practitioners, allied health professionals, social service providers and specialists.

• eIdentification/ eAuthentification

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  With the personal eHealth QR code underpinned by the secure and trusted Person Master Index on eHealth App, citizens would enjoy quick and contactless identity identification and authentication at every touchpoint of the care pathway, both online and offline, ranging from booking and referral, checking-in, admission to a hospital, telehealth, prescription and dispensing, to seeking access to their own medical records, etc.

• eImaging/ eLaboratory Report

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  Through eHealth+, we will roll out electronic investigation reports, including eImaging and eLaboratory Reports, to allow citizens and their authorised healthcare providers to have life-long access to electronic investigation reports via the system. This will facilitate analysis and comparison, avoid the costs of redundant tests and save the hassles of keeping paper and film records.

• eMedication

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  eMedication aims to facilitate the integration of medication records and drug-related healthcare services from different healthcare providers, including ePrescription through data connectivity with the eHealth+ platform. In a broader sense, eMedication can facilitate an array of new services, such as medication reconciliation, pharmacy refills, medication vetting / management services, medication reminders, medication adherence monitoring, telehealth and drug delivery services, etc.

• eMedical Certificate

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  The eMedical Certificate function of eHealth+ will enable public and private doctors (including Chinese medicine practitioners) to issue electronic medical certificates, allowing individuals to keep and access their electronic medical certificates to serve an array of day-to-day purposes, including application for leave from work and school, school enrolment, job application and travel. The electronic medical certificates also reduce the risk of losing the paper counterpart and support online services, give patients a better overall service experience.

• Portable eHealth Record

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  Enabling patients to securely access and share their health data for healthcare purposes outside Hong Kong is equally important in ensuring patient safety and continuity of care. We launched two new functions, to allow users to retrieve their own electronic health records on eHealth ("Cross-boundary Health Record") and contribute their health records obtained outside the local medical system through eHealth App ("Personal Folder").

• eHealth Manager

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  eHealth App will be an individual’s personal health assistant making available a number of major functionalities throughout the care journey, including eBooking, eReferral and eMedication, for citizens to manage all aspects of their health service process. With further expansion of electronic health record access on eHealth App, citizens will be able to take control of their own electronic health records, make more informed medical choices, and provide non-local healthcare providers with their health records to improve their care process.

• eHealth Tracker

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  We note that a growing number of the population is using mobile health applications and self-monitoring technologies to record and track health metrics such as body movements, heart rate, sleep quality or even stress level. In this connection, we will formulate an eHealth+ inclusion scheme to certify and embrace health-related Internet of Things into the eHealth+ ecosystem to support the eHealth Tracker function, allowing citizens to keep track of their health status, and to identify anomalies by monitoring specific health parameters. The data collected can also support the decision-making process of healthcare providers.

• eHealth Life

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  We will turn eHealth App into the single platform to encourage citizens to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Through the interface with fitness tracking applications, users will be able to log their exercise level to accumulate health points. We have launched a health challenge platform “e+ Life” to encourage citizens to be more active and to participate in fun initiatives with family and friends.