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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) launched the General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership (GOPC PPP) Programme on a pilot basis in Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Tuen Mun districts in mid-2014. Following one year's smooth implementation, the HA has decided to increase the service fee for participating private doctors from $2,708 to $2,872 per patient per year at the maximum with retrospective effect from July 1, 2015.
Calculation of the adjustment was based on the commonly used Composite Consumer Price Index (Medical Services) (CCPI) (Med), published in the Monthly Report on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by the Census and Statistics Department, for the period from August 2013 (when the HA-commissioned independent agency completed the fee survey on service providers) to June 2015.
The HA Director (Cluster Services), Dr Cheung Wai-lun said, "The HA has been closely monitoring the implementation of the GOPC PPP Programme and communicating with private doctors, patients, the community and other concerned parties. Their views and opinions are all valuable for future development of the Programme.
"After a year of operation, the HA has recently endorsed the increase in service fee for private doctors under the Programme. The maximum total payment to participating private doctors per patient per year, covering up to 10 consultations, will be adjusted from $2,708 to $2,872 (i.e. +6.1 per cent). Participating patients, however, will continue to pay the unchanged HA GOPC fee of $45.
"The Programme has been smoothly implemented for one year and an encouraging response has been garnered. I would like to express my gratitude to all private doctors and patients for their participation and support to the Programme," said Dr Cheung.
As at mid-July this year, there are 90 private doctors and over 4,600 patients participating in the Programme. The number of participating private doctors has already exceeded the initial planning target of 60. The number of participating patients also far exceeded the first-year planned provision of 3,000.
The HA will continue to monitor closely the implementation of the GOPC PPP Programme and is also undertaking an interim review to look into the key implementation issues and operating experiences, focusing on the Programme's scope, operations, and support. Taking into account the responses from private doctors and patients as well as initial directions from the interim review, it is anticipated that, by end-2015, the HA will map out an initial roll-out plan for extending the GOPC PPP Programme, including the scope of chronic diseases, number of patients and the implementation timeframe for individual districts.
Ends/Thursday, July 23, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:25
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