*********************************************************
A spokesman for the Department of Health today (April 1) said the e-Health System, an electronic platform for the Health Care Voucher Scheme (HCVS), had been modified to make it more user-friendly to the health care service providers joining the scheme.
The spokesman said the changes, which came into effect today, allowed health care service providers greater flexibility in entering and submitting data to the e-Health System. The format of patients' consent forms has also been modified and new printing options are added with the aim of reducing paper usage.
"The changes were introduced in response to comments and suggestions made by health care service providers who took part in the scheme," the spokesman said.
He said the DH had been closely monitoring the implementation of the scheme since it started in January this year.
"We attach great importance to the views of the stakeholders including health care service providers and the target elderly and hope that the adjustments can cater for their needs and alleviate the workload of enrolled health care service providers," the spokesman said.
Over 2,100 health care service providers had been enrolled so far, and the DH had handled more than 93,000 voucher claims in the past three months, he noted.
The spokesman said details about the changes are available at the HCVS website (www.hcv.gov.hk). Enrolled health care service providers will also be individually informed of the changes by mail.
The Health Care Voucher Scheme was launched on a three-year pilot basis starting in January this year. The objective of the scheme is to partially subsidise the elderly for using private primary care services.
"We will continue to monitor the implementation of the scheme and consider modification measures as appropriate.
"An interim evaluation of the scheme will be conducted in the second year of implementation, and a comprehensive evaluation will be carried out at the end of the three-year pilot period," the spokesman said.
Ends/Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:31
NNNN