GOPC PPP in Focus
In mid-2014, the Hospital Authority (HA) launched the General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme (GOPC PPP) in the Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Tuen Mun districts on a pilot basis. Warm response has been received from the community, patients and private medical practitioners (PMPs).
As at end of March 2015, more than 80 PMPs have participated in the programme. eHealth News has interviewed Dr Gary Au Ka-kui and Dr Li Shun-cheong, who shared with us their experience on the GOPC PPP and their visions on eHealth Record (eHR) sharing.
"The GOPC PPP helps achieve a triple-win situation among the healthcare system, patients, and PMPs. Patients' feedback has been positive as they have a choice of service providers. It fosters continuity of healthcare while strengthening primary healthcare, and practically we have gained more business," Dr Gary Au Ka-kui remarked.
Benefits of GOPC PPP
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Alleviates the pressure of HA's GOPCs |  |
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Channels resources to treat patients with more serious medical conditions |  |
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Allows patients more flexibility and convenience in choosing healthcare providers |  |
eHR Sharing in GOPC PPP
An important aspect of the GOPC PPP is the sharing of electronic health records through HA's Public Private Interface - Electronic Patient Record Sharing Pilot Project (PPI-ePR). This infrastructure also serves as the forerunner of the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS).
 Dr Gary Au Ka-kui Participating PMP of GOPC PPP in Kwun Tong district Positions held at the Hong Kong Medical Association (HKMA), 2014-2015: |
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Dr Au said in the GOPC PPP, it is essential for PMPs to input basic information in the PPI-ePR system. "The requirement is very reasonable. So far I have rarely encountered problems with the system. We have been using a clinical management system and basically do not keep paper records," he said.
Reducing Adverse Events
Dr Au recalled from his experience in using PPI-ePR. He believed that eHR sharing would be beneficial to doctors by providing important patient information for healthcare decision making. "It can spare patients from unnecessary treatment and duplicated medical investigations, which in turn saves their time and money," he said.
Real-life Case 1: Information on Hand to Avoid Serious Consequence
"A 30-year old woman suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection and fever came to see me. She knew that she had some kinds of drug allergy but could not provide details. As the patient had previously joined the GOPC PPP, I was able to find out from HA's PPI-ePR system that she had allergic history towards paracetamol, which could cause severe seizures and potential fatality. Paracetamol is a very common drug for inflammations with extremely rare chance of allergies. In the absence of complete patient information, the consequence could be serious or even fatal.”
Real-life Case 2: Unclear Vaccination History in the Absence of Information Sharing
"A mother took her 7-year-old son to my clinic and wanted to give him a chickenpox vaccination. However, she was not sure if her son had previously been vaccinated, and could not recall the name of the paediatrician he used to visit in the North District. After some search, we finally managed to locate the paediatrician and confirmed that the boy was already vaccinated. When the eHRSS is available to medical practitioners and patients in the future, important medical records like this will be more readily available."
Dr Au said the PPP programmes and eHR sharing can also drive developments for each other. "Through the PPP efforts, people will become more familiar with eHR sharing, thereby increasing collaboration opportunities. We can also consider expanding PPP programmes to cover specialist outpatient services for some minor mental illnesses and urological problems," he suggested.
Providing Continuous Care
Dr Li Shun-cheong, another doctor who has joined the GOPC PPP, also holds his positive views on sharing patients' electronic medical records. "The smooth flow of secured patient information enables connectivity among healthcare providers and is important for delivering long-term patient care," he said.
 Dr Li Shun-cheong Participating PMP of GOPC PPP in Wong Tai Sin district |
Real-life Cases: Follow-up on Chronic Patients
"I once had two patients who were chronic cases of the HA. One of them suffering from hypertension has joined the GOPC PPP and came to me for continuous treatment and medication. The other, who has enrolled into the PPI-ePR, had a colon cancer surgery and came to me for follow-up care. I got their medical records from the PPI-ePR system to facilitate me to provide appropriate care and medication."
Agreeing that the PPP programmes and eHR sharing are complementing each other, Dr Li said, "With more participation in PPP programmes, people will find more merits in eHR sharing. With experience and feedback gathered, improvements will be made. The resulting improvements will encourage more people to join the PPP programmes and use the eHRSS. It's a spiralling effect.”
Other PMPs' View on eHR Sharing  “You have to let them (PMPs) know the benefits they will receive from the computerisation of medical records and also the compelling reasons for them to make a change of their current practice.” Dr Tse Hung-hing,Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong Medical Association 
“With the SAAM (the Structured Allergy / Alert Module of the CMS Adaptation) in place, doctors, nurses and pharmacists in out-patient and in-patient divisions can efficiently access the updated information of patients in the same database. In this way, the medical staff can be effectively alerted of the allergic conditions of each patient.” Dr C M Wong,Medical Superintendent of St. Teresa's Hospital 
“The overall workflow in the outpatient department has been very smooth and efficient with the implementation of CMS On-ramp.” Dr Anne KwanImmediate Past Hospital Superintendent of Evangel Hospital |
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GOPC PPP and Radi Collaboration - A Prelude to eHR Sharing |