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The University Health Service (UHS) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is the first
healthcare provider (HCP) under a local tertiary education institution to join the Electronic Health
Record Sharing System (eHRSS). Dr Steven Ho Yiu-keung, who has just retired as Director of the UHS,
believes that electronic health record (eHR) sharing can greatly improve the healthcare service and
facilitate future health planning.
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Dr Steven Ho Yiu-keung
Former Director of the University Health Service,
Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
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“Over the years, various healthcare providers
(HCPs) have captured and kept a lot of quality
clinical information, but such information is all
silo data isolated from each other and not
sharable,” said Dr Ho. “The data can only be
best utilised when there is a flow of information.”
“We are in the era of big data. The sharing of
medical data from different sources is very
useful in several ways,” he said.
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A lot of quality data are held by different doctors but
they cannot be shared |
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Commenting on the benefits of eHR sharing,
Dr Ho said diagnostics improvement and
timely treatment for patients can be achieved
through efficient exchange of clinical data.
“It’s quick, accurate and safe.” |
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On societal level, he said the data collected can be analysed to identify future healthcare needs, for instance,
the need of individual geographic districts, and to facilitate planning for healthcare provision. |
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Dr Ho also envisaged a bigger picture in which the building of a territory-wide database can significantly
impact future healthcare delivery and management. |
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“We can use the structured data to develop a smart and intelligent healthcare system. When DNA
sequencing technique or molecular pathology technology is applied, patients’ medical records can be
analysed to help predict disease trends and thus enhance prevention,” he added. |
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Data Sharing Experience of UHS
“Patients of the UHS have been positive towards the launch of the
eHRSS,” Dr Ho said. “Elderly patients welcome the system for
practical reasons as they need to consult different doctors, while
students are more receptive to new information technology tools.”
In fact, data sharing is not a new concept to the UHS, which has
long established an interface with the public healthcare sector.
“We have participated in various public private partnership
programmes of the Hospital Authority, including the Public-Private
Interface - Electronic Patient Record Sharing Pilot Project,”
said Dr Ho.
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Elderly patients and students are positive to the eHRSS |
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“Our patients include students, staff members and retirees. Apart from using our service, they would also
need to use the public healthcare system. After joining the eHRSS, the medical records captured in our
Clinic Information System will definitely help when our patients acquire public healthcare services.”
he added. |
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The UHS is now working to upload more data in the eHRSS. “Right now we are sharing the patient's master
index, and consultation date and time. We will soon upload allergy records and medication. Diagnosis and
vaccination will follow,” said Dr Ho. |
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As to fostering an understanding on eHR sharing amongst healthcare students, personally Dr Ho is of the
view that students can be given an introduction on the eHRSS to help them grasp the concept of the
model. |
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Digitisation at UHS
Dr Ho has for 31 years served the UHS which has a long history of
computerisation. It started with the Clinic Information System
developed by the centre about two decades ago.
A keen advocate of eHealth himself, Dr Ho said computerisation can
help the UHS fulfil its mission to deliver quality and timely services.
“From reception, consultation, laboratory examination to billing, our
Clinic Information System captures every step of the workflow.”
“We handle close to 100,000 patient accounts each year. With
digitisation, we can exercise better quality control,” he stressed.
“It’s also environmentally friendly as there is no more bulky paper
record to store, manage and retrieve,” he said, adding that only
electronic and standardised data can facilitate eHR sharing. “Paper
records can hardly bring us this kind of convenience.”
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“With digitisation, we can exercise
better quality control,” Dr Ho
stressed
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Over the years, the UHS has accumulated tens of thousands of
electronic patient records. There are times in which such data was
used to help open up avenues of research. For example, the PolyU
has made use of de-identified data in a research on osteoporosis to
help analyse causes of the disease and identify preventive
measures.
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Dr Wong Ho-cheong, who has succeeded Dr Ho as the UHS’ Director, cited an example of how the
eHRSS has worked for patients. |
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“A female patient in her 50s came to us because
of a month-long fever with unknown origin. Since
our x-ray showed a black spot on her lung, she
was referred by us to the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital (QEH), where several examinations were
performed on her. As the patient had registered
to the eHRSS, we quickly retrieved the hospital’s
examination results through the system with her
consent. On the advice of both the doctors of our
team and QEH, the patient promptly took a positron emission tomography (PET) scan and
underwent a surgery at a private practitioner. Laboratory tests on the substance took out from
her body showed that she has contracted tuberculosis. She was able to be treated in a timely
manner.
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A UHS patient was able to receive timely treatment
with the help of the eHRSS |
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| This is a case in which the eHRSS has played an important role in: |
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enabling timely treatment for the patient; |
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saving the patient's time and money by avoiding repeated tests and examinations by different HCPs; and |
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reducing her anxiety as she could seek assistance from her primary care doctor at the UHS she is
familiar with. |
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