Lu Chongmao, director of the Medical and Health Bureau, has repeatedly bombarded the use of hospital beds during the epidemic in private hospitals after he took office. In an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01" on Wednesday (1st), he reiterated that "seeing a doctor is expensive and difficult" is a reflection of Hong Kong's medical system In the future, we will not rely on "dental power" to improve public-private medical cooperation, but to reform the system. The future goal is to promote all private hospitals to set up package fees and accept public hospital patients.
There are voices suggesting that Hong Kong should join the national centralized procurement mechanism to solve the current problem of expensive medicines.
Lu Chongmao said that he will consider the relevant proposals, but Hong Kong and the mainland have different customs areas, and there may be difficulties in implementation.
When Lu Chongmao, the director of the Medical and Health Bureau, accepted an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01", he said that in the future, he will reform the private hospital system to assist the public system in the future.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Calling on private hospitals to support the system without relying on tooth strength
Last year, when the COVID-19 outbreak broke out, Hong Kong’s medical system collapsed, and private hospitals did not lend a helping hand in a timely manner, which aroused criticism from the society.
Lu Chongmao attended a press conference on the epidemic on August 26 last year. He spent more than five minutes emphasizing that Hong Kong's medical care should be borne by all medical personnel. He pointed out that there are eight public hospitals with a patient rate of less than 60%, or even zero, which are considered unqualified. .
In an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01", he explained that private hospitals would define the new crown pneumonia as a complicated case at the beginning of the epidemic, so they did not accept it. However, as the epidemic situation changes, the government will expect private hospitals to assist the public medical system. After the government intervened, private hospitals have changed significantly and are willing to respond to the call to accept patients.
Many people worry that the willingness of the private hospital to accept patients with the epidemic is only an isolated case. When asked if there will be similar "tooth power" in the future to call on the private hospital to participate in the fight against the epidemic, Lu Chongmao said that he does not want to rely on individuals to solve the problem, but From the perspective of system reform, it is emphasized that private medical institutions must play an important role in the future in emergencies, so as to share the pressure of public medical care.
CUHK Hospital is a private teaching hospital.
(File photo/Photo by Gong Jiasheng)
Pilot implementation of reforms at CUHK Hospital
"Expensive and difficult to see a doctor" is a reflection of the current medical system in Hong Kong. Lu Chongmao believes that the fees of private hospitals are expensive and the waiting time for public hospitals is long. Therefore, apart from emergencies such as the epidemic, he also hopes to reform private medical care from the system The system, including the promotion of package fees and the acceptance of public hospital patients, has given the middle class more choices.
He also mentioned that Zhongda Hospital has carried out relevant reforms, and the government’s goal is to extend this to other private hospitals to improve the problem of "expensive and difficult medical treatment". "The new hospital management model is to take a new path. , (I hope seeing a doctor) will not be as difficult as the public sector, and not as expensive as the private sector.”
The purchase price of "Tongbozai" stent for heart disease in the mainland and Hong Kong is very different, and the purchase price in the mainland is only 10 to 20% of the original price.
(File photo/photo by Gao Zhongming)
Mainland procurement bargaining power is high, and it is difficult for Hong Kong to join different customs regions
In recent years, through measures such as centralized procurement and price negotiation in the Mainland, the price of related drugs has been greatly reduced by 40% to 50%, and the reduction of individual drugs can be even greater. Some voices suggest that Hong Kong should join the national centralized procurement mechanism to solve the current problem of expensive medicines .
Lu Chongmao agrees that due to the large population in Mainland China, the bargaining power will be greater than that in Hong Kong. Taking anti-cancer drugs as an example, the purchase price in the Mainland is only 17% of that in Hong Kong. Only 10 to 20% of the original price.
Foreign pharmaceutical companies will determine the pricing of drugs based on factors such as the gross domestic product (GDP) of the two places, so as to ensure that no country cannot purchase drugs because they cannot pay for the drugs.
Lu Chongmao bluntly said that it is difficult to implement the national centralized procurement mechanism, because Hong Kong and the mainland have different tariff areas, that is, the two places have different import tariffs on drugs. "We will not give up thinking about this method, but Hong Kong and the mainland will always One country, two systems, everyone has a different customs area.”
Lu Chongmao attended the epidemic press conference on August 26 last year, and spent more than 5 minutes emphasizing that Hong Kong's medical care should be borne by all medical personnel. pass.
(File photo/photo by Xia Jialang)
01 Interview with Lu Chongmao｜Next month, the UK will be scrambling for talents to recruit 100 overseas doctors in a short period of time and temporarily get more than a dozen people. The first interview after the hood was removed, refused to be a historian commented in the past, said that it will continue to review 01 Interview with Lu Chongmao｜Hope to reform the private hospital system to help the public system difficult to join the mainland procurement bargaining
