bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Christy Leung

Emily Tsang

Closer partnership between public and private health care service providers has prompted Hong Kong’s graft-buster to issue guidelines in a bid to prevent corruption among stakeholders.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption issued tailor-made corruption prevention guidelines for the city’s health care sector Friday.
Professor Cindy Lam Lo-kuen, a member of ICAC’s corruption prevention advisory committee, said a code of conduct was listed in a booklet issued as part of the move.
Sharing of data between public and private clinics will boost Hong Kong’s health care system
Also included are possible corruption risks faced by patients and agents in the public and private health care sectors.
“Agents and service providers should not offer any advantage to lure patients to choose their medical packages,” Lam said.
“When expediting payment from public funds, service providers are banned from exaggerating the number of patients they received and medical treatment provided,” Lam added, saying the guide also offers anti-corruption measures.
Amid the pressing demand for public health care services, the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority rolled out the public-private partnership programme in 2008 to channel subsidised patients to private sector health care services. More than 20,000 patients have benefitted from the programme.
An eternal wait: Some Hong Kong patients have to wait more than 20 hours to get into hospital amid overcrowding
ICAC said it did not receive any complaints related to the partnership programme so far.
The guidelines also come after the Hospital Authority announced earlier that some 8,000 patients waiting for colonoscopy at public hospitals would be allowed to use facilities in private clinics at subsidised rates starting next month, in an attempt to ease demand pressure.
The graft-buster said other corruption risks included patients bribing service providers, hoping to jump the line for early treatment, or to receive services they were not eligible for.
“[It is an offence for a health care agent] to accept rebates from individuals for referring a patient for further services without the patient’s consent,” Lam said.
Hong Kong hospital crisis: overcapacity, overworked doctors — and peak flu season will make it worse
Lam encouraged patients to ask about health care service details, such as prices and options, as they had a right to choose the doctor or service provider of their choice.
There are currently 12 government-funded health care schemes under the partnership, including the vaccination subsidy scheme and cataract surgeries programme.
Estimated expenditure for the partnership programme reached HK$237 million in 2015/16.
In March, the Legislative Council also approved HK$10 billion for the Hospital Authority to fund the programme.


ICAC issues health care sector guidelines to prevent corruption in public-private partnership

More than 20,000 patients have benefitted from the partnership programme between public and private health care service providers. Photo: Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Rules will define offences such as service providers accepting rebates for patient referral, or patients bribing providers to jump queue


ICAC issues health care sector guidelines to prevent corruption in public-private partnership

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rules will define offences such as service providers accepting rebates for patient referral, or patients bribing providers to jump queue

Rules will define offences such as service providers accepting rebates for patient referral, or patients bribing providers to jump queue