eHealth App enhances function for viewing laboratory reports from healthcare providers
The Health Bureau (HHB) announced today (January 9) that eHealth users can now view laboratory records of general routine check-ups deposited in their eHealth accounts by the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health through the "Investigations" function of the eHealth mobile application (eHealth App), allowing citizens to better understand and manage their health. Users can generally view the laboratory reports in the App 14 days after the reports are released, and the App's information centre will also issue relevant notifications.
The HHB also continues to collaborate with private healthcare providers (HCPs) to build comprehensive medical records for citizens. Currently, a total of 75 healthcare service locations in private hospitals, laboratories and medical group practices are technically ready to deposit citizens' laboratory reports into eHealth. If citizens have given "sharing consent" to relevant private HCPs, their laboratory reports can then be deposited in their eHealth accounts for access through the App, so that they can take better control of their own health conditions. This also enables other authorised healthcare professionals to view the reports through the eHealth system for follow-up care.
A spokesman for the HHB said, "Under the eHealth+ development, we are committed to building a personal lifelong electronic health record (eHR) profile for every citizen and creating a patient-centric, one-stop comprehensive health portal through the eHealth
App to help citizens manage their health records, access health information, monitor personal health and establish a healthier lifestyle. With the further enhancement of the App's 'Investigations' function, laboratory reports of citizens from both public and private HCPs, as well as those from various government-subsidised healthcare programmes (including the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme and the Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme), are consolidated in their eHealth accounts. Citizens can access the reports anytime and anywhere when necessary, eliminating the inconvenience of storing paper reports and saving costs on redundant tests. This also facilitates authorised HCPs in conducting analysis and comparison, thereby providing a seamless and personalised care journey for citizens."
Since the launch of the eHealth App in 2021, the Government has progressively expanded the health records available for citizens to view in the App. Currently, eHealth users can access nine types of eHRs through the App, namely, personal identification and demographic data, allergies and adverse drug reactions, encounters and appointments, immunisation records, medication records, laboratory reports, healthcare referrals, observation and lifestyle records, as well as medical certificates. Users can also make use of the App's "Health Management" function to view certain health data (e.g. blood pressure, blood glucose, heart rate and body weight) inputted by themselves or taken at self-service eHealth stations at designated District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses. In the future, the Government will continue to gradually make more health records available for viewing in the App, including radiology reports, radiology images, Chinese medicine allergies and adverse drug reactions, as well as Chinese medicine prescription records.
In addition, the Government has been taking a multipronged approach to encourage the private healthcare sector to deposit citizens' eHRs into eHealth and establish a comprehensive, complete and personalised eHR profile for them, in order to assist citizens and their HCPs to make informed decisions, respond to the health needs of citizens more effectively, and provide more precise diagnoses. Among these initiatives, the Government launched the eHealth Adoption Sponsorship Pilot Scheme in 2023 by partnering with Clinical Management System (CMS) solution vendors and medical groups to conduct system enhancements, allowing private HCPs to seamlessly deposit medical records into eHealth directly through their original CMS.
The spokesman for the HHB said, "The pilot scheme has yielded positive results. This year, we will expand the scheme to include more CMS solution vendors, medical groups and other sectors, including Chinese medicine. We also plan to launch an eHealth+ accreditation scheme to enable members of the public to easily identify if an HCP has the capability to deposit health records into patients' personalised eHealth accounts."
The Government announced the rollout of the eHealth+ five-year plan in the 2023 Policy Address, with a view to transforming eHealth into a comprehensive healthcare information infrastructure that integrates multiple functions of healthcare data sharing, service delivery and care journey management. eHealth+ aims to bring about a more seamless and personalised care journey for every citizen and facilitate care co-ordination and cross-sector collaboration, as well as health management and health surveillance, thus enabling citizens to enjoy higher-quality healthcare services while effectively supporting various healthcare policies.
For more information, citizens may visit the eHealth thematic website (app.ehealth.gov.hk/index.html?lang=en) or call the hotline at 3467 6300. The hotline service runs from 9am to 9pm from Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays).
