Hong Kong doctors to face HK$50,000 fine if they repeatedly ignore data-input order
Penalty for repeatedly failing to input patient data into eHealth system among proposals in legislative amendments
Healthcare professionals could face fines of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,400) if they repeatedly ignore an order to upload important patient data to Hong Kong’s electronic medical record system under legislative amendments proposed by authorities.
The bill will get its first reading in the legislature next Wednesday, with the government aiming to have it passed during the legislative year.
The planned amendment will also create a legal framework allowing healthcare providers outside Hong Kong to access and input data into the city’s eHealth platform, if they have a patient’s consent.
Deputy Secretary for Health Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Wednesday that private medical practitioners accounted for 60 per cent of those accessing the platform, but contributed less than 1 per cent of the system’s records.
Hui said authorities planned to address the situation by amending the Electronic Health Record Sharing System Ordinance.
The eHealth platform was launched in 2016, and allows public and private healthcare service providers to view and share patients’ health records, helping parties to collaborate in the city’s push to improve its primary healthcare system. More than 6.1 million people and 3,700 private healthcare service providers have registered to use the platform.