Starting from Jan 27, Hong Kong residents can authorize three hospitals in Guangdong province -- two in Shenzhen and one in Zhongshan -- to deposit radiology reports and images into their eHealth accounts.
The three hospitals are the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital and the Zhongshan Chen Xinghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, the Health Bureau said on Tuesday.
The upgrade marks an important enhancement to the “Personal Folder” function of the eHealth App, which allows patients to store their medical records in the app and obtain them during consultation outside Hong Kong.
Before receiving radiology services at the designated hospitals, Hong Kong residents can submit an authorization application through the eHealth App, and then present the QR code they received in the mobile application, along with their Hong Kong identity card, to local healthcare personnel for identity verification. The healthcare institutions will then help them to directly deposit the radiology reports and images of that consultation into their personal eHealth accounts.
The current arrangement allows users to self-deposit records, such as drug, allergy and adverse drug reaction, diagnosis, surgical and procedures.
ALSO READ: 6.3m HK residents can now use eHealth records in mainland
The upgrade supports the storage of high-resolution radiology images which are often challenging for users to upload themselves, and residents can authorize healthcare providers in the special administrative region to access them through the eHealth system during follow-up care.
The upgraded function marks a significant step in cross-boundary medical record sharing and supports residents in consolidating medical records obtained from different healthcare processes into their personal eHealth accounts, offering more convenience for future management and usage, a spokesperson for the Health Bureau said.
The bureau has set up support stations at the three hospitals to assist Hong Kong people in using the relevant function through eHealth app.
Jia Lin, an oncologist at Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital, said her department had served nearly 1,000 Hong Kong patients last year.
She said it’s extremely inconvenient for patients to bring radiology images to the Chinese mainland, and it would also prolong diagnosis and treatment.
READ MORE: HK's eHealth app to facilitate cross-boundary access to electronic medical records
She hopes the breakthrough can reduce repeated examinations, making treatment plans more coherent and better aligned with the actual needs of patients.
