Recently, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government unveiled a public hospital fee reform plan, drawing widespread attention. Dean of PolyU CPCE Prof. Peter Yuen, a renowned health economist, gave separate interviews to HK01 and TVB News regarding the public hospital fee reform, describing it as merely "a drop in the bucket" in addressing escalating healthcare costs.
He identified aging demographics and rising drug costs as primary drivers of increasing expenditures, with overuse of inpatient services by mild cases being a core issue. To address this, Prof. Yuen called for an overhaul of the funding model by adopting "money follows the patient" – a system that rewards hospitals for efficiency. He also emphasised the need to allocate more resources to primary care for chronic disease prevention and treatment, easing the burden on public hospitals and enhancing Hong Kong's healthcare system.
Read the new report: https://bit.ly/4c6aU0K