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The Government launched today (March 8) the Shared Care Programme to provide enhanced primary care services for supporting chronic disease patients through a public-private partnership model.
Addressing at the launching ceremony, the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, said that as part of the healthcare service reform, the Chief Executive announced in his 2008 Policy Address the implementation of a series of pilot projects to enhance support for chronic disease patients in primary care settings. The Shared Care Programme is one of the pilot projects.
The Shared Care Programme aims to allow chronic disease patients currently under the care of the public healthcare system to receive comprehensive and continuous care with a government subsidy through public-private partnership.
In the initial stage, the pilot programme will primarily target at diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT) patients who are currently under the care of the public healthcare system. They must have started to receive care for DM and HT at public specialist out-patient clinics at least two years ago. They must also be assessed to be clinically stable and can continue to receive care in the primary care settings. Participating patients can choose their private doctors to follow up on their conditions and receive partial subsidy provided by the Government for receiving comprehensive management.
The pilot programme, which will last for three years, will be first implemented in Tai Po and Shatin. Participating private doctors are required to provide patients with comprehensive and continuous care based on the management model and clinical protocols for DM and HT developed by the Working Group on Primary Care.
Dr Chow said, "Through this pilot programme, we seek to assess the efficacy of these management model and clinical protocols in controlling medical conditions; test a service model for provision of public-private shared care for chronic disease patients; promote the involvement of private primary care doctors in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases; and enhance the capability of the healthcare system in providing more comprehensive and continuous care for chronic disease patients.
"The pilot programme can also provide more flexible choices in the private sector to chronic disease patients who are under the care of the public healthcare system. This will also facilitate the establishment of long-term patient-doctor relationships in order to achieve the objective of continuous and holistic care."
Dr Chow stressed that public healthcare services would not be reduced after the launch of the programme. The public healthcare system would continue to provide support to the participating patients, including laboratory services and health risk assessments provided by the Hospital Authority (HA).
"The public healthcare system will also closely monitor the conditions of patients and allow patients with deteriorating conditions to be referred back to public specialist out-patient clinics for timely management," he said.
Dr Chow pointed out that having regard to the experience of implementing the Programme in Tai Po and Shatin, the Government would consider whether the programme should be extended to other districts so that more chronic disease patients could receive comprehensive and multi-disciplinary healthcare services jointly provided by the public and private healthcare sectors.
Ends/Monday, March 8, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:27
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