GOPC PPP and Radi Collaboration - A Prelude to eHR Sharing

To enhance the healthcare service quality through the combined efforts from both the public and private healthcare sectors in Hong Kong, the Government and Hospital Authority (HA) have launched a range of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programmes. In this article, we will focus on two of these programmes, namely the General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme (GOPC PPP) and the Pilot Project on Enhancing Radiological Investigation Services through Collaboration with the Private Sector (Radi Collaboration).

The GOPC PPP and the Radi Collaboration were launched by the HA to help cope with the rising demand of the respective services. The two programmes are supported by the Public Private Interface - Electronic Patient Record Sharing Pilot Project (PPI-ePR), which allows participating private practitioners access to the medical records of HA patients with their consent.

In facilitating the PPP programmes, the PPI-ePR also serves as a fundamental infrastructure in underpinning healthcare transformation, and helps to pave the way for the implementation of the territory-wide Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS).

GOPC PPP

The GOPC PPP was launched in mid-2014 to help the HA manage the demand for general outpatient service, enhance patient access to primary care services, provide choice to patients for receiving primary care services from the private sector, promote the family doctor concept, and foster the development of the eHRSS. Under the Programme, patients with specific chronic diseases and in stable clinical condition are given a choice to receive treatment provided by private doctors.

Programme Details

Target patients :
Initially, the Programme covers clinically stable patients having hypertension with or without hyperlipidemia currently taken care of by the HA GOPCs. The HA will soon expand the scope to cover stable diabetes mellitus patients on selected oral medications.

Districts :
Pilot in Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Tuen Mun districts

Service Package:
Patients receive up to 10 subsidised medical consultations per year, covering both chronic and acute care; drugs for treating their chronic conditions and episodic illnesses to be received directly from private doctors at their clinics; and investigation services provided by the HA as specified through private doctors' referral

Fee:

	Patients to pay the HA's GOPC fee (presently $45 as per Gazette) for each consultation
	Recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) or holders of valid full or partial medical fee waiver certificates can enjoy the same fee waiver arrangements as for the HA's services
	Patients may choose to receive additional services or drugs beyond the Programme scope at their own expenses or by Elderly Health Care Vouchers for elders aged 70 or above
	For service provision, participating private doctors may receive a maximum total payment of $2,708 per year (on a reimbursement basis), covering a maximum of 10 consultations, including the HA GOPC fee of $45 to be paid by the patients to the private doctors direct after each consultation

For more information of the GOPC PPP, please refer to the following website:
www.ha.org.hk/ppp/gopcppp

Radi Collaboration

With increase in cancer cases and demand for radiological imaging services, the Radi Collaboration was rolled out in 2012 to fully subsidise patients from selected cancer groups to receive radiological investigation services at designated private service providers.

Programme Details

Target patients :
HA patients suffering from colorectal cancer, breast cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, lymphoma, head and neck cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, corpus uteri cancer, cervix cancer, sarcoma or germ cell tumor fulfilling pre-defined clinical eligibility criteria.

Service :

	Computed Tomography (CT) and / or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as prescribed by doctor;
	Drugs related to the scan (e.g. contrast, steroid) for patient in need
	In case of sudden change of patient's condition, provision of initial treatment to stabilize a patient before transfer to HA, if so required

Generally speaking, investigation results are returned to HA in electronic form through the Radiological Image Sharing Pilot Project within 5 working days. For more information of Radi Collaboration, please refer to the following website:
www3.ha.org.hk/ppp/radi.aspx

Ride on PPI-ePR

The PPI-ePR has made possible the sharing of integrated and patient-based information from the HA to private practitioners and return the relevant patients' clinical data, images and reports in the GOPC PPP and the Radi Collaboration respectively. Such sharing can ensure the availability of complete and accurate clinical information to facilitate the provision of healthcare as the base of running the PPP Programmes.


Ride on PPI-ePR

Being an integral part of the PPP programmes, the PPI-ePR pilot project also serves as the foundation for eHRSS by

As at the end of April 2015, the PPI-ePR has enrolled over 428,000 patients and more than 3,300 private healthcare professionals. When the eHRSS commences, these patients and private healthcare professionals will be invited to migrate to the new system and the concept of "records follow patients" can be realised.

For more information of PPI-ePR, please refer to the following website:
www.ha.org.hk/ppp/ppiepr

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