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Interim Review of

Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme

Food and Health Bureau Department of Health

February 2011

Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Content

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................................I

PURPOSE1

BACKGROUND1

POLICY ADDRESS1

SCHEME OBJECTIVES1

IMPLEMENTATION2

SCHEME DESIGN AND FEATURES2

Elderly persons eligible to participate in the Scheme2

Healthcare service providers eligible to participate in the Scheme2

Restrictions on the use of health care vouchers2

SCHEME OPERATION3

Mechanism for issuing and using health care vouchers3

Arrangement for reimbursement of health care vouchers4

eHealth System4

Privacy Impact Assessment and Privacy Compliance Assessment5

Security Risk Assessment and Audit6

The electronic platform piloting a model for scheme administration6

IMPROVEMENT MEASURES7

Data input of claim transactions7

Modification to Consent Form7

No need to arrange Voucher Account Creation Form8

Use of Smart Identity Card Reader8

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION9

REIMBURSEMENT 10

POST‐CLAIM CHECKING AND AUDITING 10

Measures to prevent abuse of the Scheme 11

The Corruption Prevention Department of Independent Commission Against Corruption 12

The Audit Commission 12

INTERIM REVIEW 13

Objectives of the interim review 13

Methodology and source of findings 13

STATISTICS ON PARTICIPATION AND UTILIZATION 15

METHODOLOGY 15

RESULTS 15

(A) Statistics on healthcare service providers 15

Number of enrolled healthcare service providers 15

Distribution of places of practice 15

Enrolment among healthcare professionals 18

Participation among healthcare professionals 20

Enrolment and withdrawal of healthcare professionals 21

(B) Statistics on the elderly 23

Number of elderly people joining the Scheme 23

(C) Voucher utilization pattern 23

Number of eHealth accounts created 23

Number of claim transactions made 25

Number of eHealth accounts with zero balance of voucher 25

Distribution of claim transactions among health professions 25

Distribution of claim transactions by reason of visit 27

Number of vouchers used per transaction by the elderly 29

Number of vouchers claimed by health profession 31

Median of vouchers claimed per transaction by health profession 33

Distribution of vouchers claimed and transactions made by medical practitioners 34

Doctor‐patient relationship 35

FEEDBACK FROM THE ELDERLY 37

OPINION SURVEY 37

METHODOLOGY 37

RESULTS 37

(A) Reasons for using vouchers 38

(B) Scheme awareness 40

(C) Scheme scope 43

a. Subsidy amount 43

b. Age eligibility 44

c. Coverage of health services 44

(D) Scheme delivery 45

(E) Scheme impact 46

a. Choice of healthcare services after Scheme launch 46

b. Change in service fees after Scheme launch 47

WILLINGNESS‐TO‐PAY STUDY 49

METHODOLOGY 49

RESULTS 49

(A) Willingness to pay 50

(B) Willingness to co‐pay 52

(C) Subsidy 54

FEEDBACK FROM HEALTHCARE SERVICE PROVIDERS 56

METHODOLOGY 56

RESULTS 56

(A) Reasons for choice of participation 56

(B) Scheme delivery 56

(C) Scheme impact 57

(D) Suggestions from healthcare service providers 57

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 58

KEY OBSERVATIONS ON THE SCHEME 58

(i) Scheme awareness and participation 58

(ii) Satisfaction with the Scheme 59

(iii) Impact on healthcare seeking behaviour 60

(iv) Price and subsidy for healthcare services 62

(v) Coverage of healthcare service providers 63

RECOMMENDATIONS 63

APPENDIX 1 ‐ “FULL VERSION” AND “CONDENSED VERSION” OF CONSENT FORMS IN EHEALTH SYSTEM

................................................................................................................................................................68

APPENDIX 2 ‐ LIST OF DISTRICT ELDERLY COMMUNITY CENTRES AND NEIGHBOURHOOD ELDERLY CENTRES HOMES 72

APPENDIX 3 – PROTOCOLS ON MONITORING AND INVESTIGATION OF TRANSACTION CLAIMS MADE THROUGH THE EHEALTH SYSTEM 77

APPENDIX 4 ‐ LIST OF “REASON OF VISIT” IN RESPECT OF THE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ELIGIBLE TO JOIN THE SCHEME 86

APPENDIX 5 – FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF AVERAGE NUMBER OF VOUCHERS CLAIMED PER TRANSACTION BY HEALTH PROFESSION 92

APPENDIX 6 – FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF VOUCHERS CLAIMED BY HEALTH PROFESSION 102

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme (the Scheme) has been in place for two years since its implementation in 2009. To assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in enhancing primary care for the elderly, the Government initiated an interim review in the second half of 2010. The operation of the Scheme and utilization of the vouchers were examined. The opinions and feedback of the elderly and healthcare service providers were collected. This executive summary highlights the major findings of the review, our evaluation of the extent to which the Scheme has achieved its objectives, and our recommendations on the way forward when the current pilot period ends on 31 December 2011.

Scheme Objectives

2. The Chief Executive announced in the 2007‐08 Policy Address that the Government would launch a three‐year pilot scheme in the 2008‐09 financial year under which elderly people aged 70 or above would be given annually five health care vouchers worth $50 each to subsidise the primary healthcare services they purchase from the private sector. The Scheme was launched on 1 January 2009. It aims at providing partial subsidies for the elderly to receive private primary healthcare services in the community, as additional choices on top of the existing public primary healthcare services, with a view to enhancing primary healthcare services for the elderly. The Scheme implements the “money follows patient” concept on a trial basis, enabling elderly people to choose within their neighbourhood private primary healthcare services that best suit their needs.

3. By providing partial subsidies for the elderly to choose private primary healthcare in the community, it is expected that the Scheme could help promote key ingredients of good primary care among the elderly and healthcare service providers, including: continued relationship between the elderly and their healthcare providers, more provision and utilization of preventive healthcare services, and promotion of well‐being among the elderly. With better access and a continuum of care from participating healthcare service providers, we expect that more elderly people would be able to choose private primary healthcare services close to their homes, and those elderly people who need to rely on public healthcare services might also benefit from

i

the less burdened public primary care services. Scope and Methodology of the Interim Review

4. The interim review was conducted when the Scheme has been implemented for its first half of the pilot period. Efforts have been made to show the position up to 31 December 2010, save for situations where only data up to 31 October 2010 were available for analysis purposes.

5. The scope of the interim review covers the operation of the Scheme, participation in the Scheme, utilization of vouchers, and feedback on the Scheme in general and specific aspects. In particular, the interim review has covered the following aspects by –

(a) examining voucher utilization by the elderly and participation of healthcare service providers in the Scheme;

(b) collecting feedback from the elderly (both participating and non‐participating) about the Scheme, including their awareness of the Scheme, means to get to know the Scheme, reasons for Scheme participation / non‐participation, desirable subsidy amount, age eligibility, healthcare services coverage, service delivery and perception about change in service fees and choice of healthcare service after Scheme launch; and

(c) collecting feedback from healthcare service providers (both enrolled and non‐enrolled) about the Scheme, including scheme operation, service delivery, barriers of non‐participation and reasons for withdrawal.

6. Data collected for analysis and examination include statistical data captured in the database of the eHealth System and purposely collected data through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. To this end, studies were conducted by the School of Public Health and Primary Care of Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to collect feedback from the elderly and healthcare service providers, viz. the opinion survey, focus group discussions and the willingness‐to‐pay study.

Scheme Operation and Implementation

eHealth System

7. The Scheme is administered through an electronic platform, viz. the eHealth System. It is a web‐based system on which voucher‐based and subsidy schemes operate. There is no need to issue or carry vouchers in paper form as vouchers are issued and used through the electronic system.

The eHealth System performs the following functions ‐

(a) managing information on healthcare service providers and enrolment;

(b) managing health care voucher accounts, including registering eligible elderly people under the Scheme, issuing vouchers, processing claims and recording usage;

(c) managing reimbursement of health care vouchers on a monthly basis; and

(d) monitoring the Scheme by producing statistical reports to facilitate planning and management of daily operation, and generating alert messages whenever an irregularity in the use of vouchers is detected to facilitate follow‐up actions and investigations.

Use of Smart Identity Card Reader

8. To further streamline procedures and provide greater convenience to healthcare service providers, arrangements have been made in late 2010 to make use of the “card face data” function in the chips of the Smart Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) for registration and authentication. It provides an alternative means to participating healthcare service providers to register persons eligible for vouchers and to access their accounts for claiming vouchers, obviating manual input and ensuring data accuracy.

Privacy Impact Assessment and Privacy Compliance Assessment

9. Measures to protect personal data privacy and to prevent abuse have been instigated prior to and during Scheme implementation. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and a Privacy Compliance Assessment (PCA) on the design and operational procedures of the Scheme (phase I) were conducted between July and December 2008 by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. This ensures that the eHealth System has built‐in features to safeguard the security of personal data transferred and stored within it in compliance with the relevant legislation and government guidelines on protection of personal data privacy. Prior to full launch of Smart HKID deployment for eHealth account creation and voucher claims in October 2010, PIA and PCA on phase II of the eHealth System were conducted between April and July 2010.

Security Risk Assessment and Audit

10. In addition, the Department of Health (DH) engaged Computer and Technological Solutions Limited (C&T) to conduct Security Risk Assessments of phase I and II of the eHealth System in May 2008 and June 2010 respectively. The current security risk level of eHealth System was found satisfactory, and complied with the Government’s IT Security Policy and Security Regulations.

Post‐claim checking and Auditing

11. As at 31 December 2010, a total of 852,721 claim transactions involving 2,136,630 vouchers were processed for reimbursement and a total of about $106 million have been reimbursed to enrolled healthcare service providers. To ensure proper disbursement of funding for voucher claims, DH has put in place a mechanism for checking and auditing voucher claims. It involves (a) routine checking, (b) monitoring and investigation of aberrant patterns of transactions, and (c) investigation of complaints. By end December 2010, a total of 1,711 inspection visits were conducted, having 30,241 claims checked which represents 4% of claim transactions made. The checking covers 77% of enrolled healthcare service providers with claims made. The post‐claim checking and auditing revealed 25 cases of wrong claims, representing 4% of the checked claims. These claims involved errors in procedures or documentation. So far, two medical practitioners and one Chinese medicine practitioner have been delisted from the Scheme.

12. In mid 2008, the Corruption Prevention Department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption offered corruption prevention advice to DH on the administration of the Scheme prior to its launch. Also, to ascertain whether there are potential risks to regularity, propriety or financial control in the management of the Scheme and its operational mechanism, the Audit Commission conducted a risk audit of the Scheme in 2009‐10. DH has taken into account their suggestions and observations in fine‐tuning the modus operandi of the Scheme.

Statistics on Scheme Participation and Utilization

Healthcare service providers: distribution of places of practice

13. As at 31 December 2010, there are a total of 2,736 healthcare service providers enrolled in the Scheme, involving 3,438 places of practice. Among them, 39.6% (1,363) are in Kowloon, 23.4% (803) Hong Kong Island, 19.8%

(681) the New Territories West, 16.0% (549) the New Territories East and 1.2%

(42) Islands district. Of the 18 districts, Yau Tsim Mong district (549) has the highest number of places of practice.

Healthcare service providers: Enrolment and participation rate

14. Nine categories of healthcare professional who are registered in Hong Kong are eligible to participate in the Scheme. They are medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists, chiropractors, registered and enrolled nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and medical laboratory technologists. Medical practitioners account for the highest percentage of enrolled healthcare service providers (52.3%) (1,431), followed by Chinese medicine practitioners (27.9%) (762) and dentists (8.7%) (239).

15. We estimate that the participation of medical practitioners, which formed the majority of the enrolled healthcare services providers, is about 34.1% of the potential pool of medical practitioners actively providing healthcare services in the private sector. The participation rate is on par with other public‐private partnership schemes launched by the Government (e.g. vaccination subsidy schemes). Participation among other eligible health

professions is relatively lower, at 16.1% for dentists and 12.5% for Chinese medicine practitioners.

Elderly people joining the Scheme and claiming vouchers

16. As at 31 December 2010, a total of 385,657 eHealth accounts (representing 57% of eligible elderly people) were created and 300,292 eHealth accounts made voucher claims (representing 45% of eligible elderly people). The number of eligible elderly people who have registered with the Scheme has increased from 42% in end 2009 to 57% in end 2010. The number of eligible elderly people who have registered with the Scheme and made voucher claims has increased from 29% to 45% over the same period. By the end of the second year of the pilot period, 131,801 elderly people, or 34% of elderly people who have registered with the Scheme (some 20% of the eligible elderly people), used up the vouchers they were entitled to by then.

Claim transactions made: distribution among health professions, vouchers claim pattern and usage

17. With regard to the distribution of claim transactions among the different professions, the majority (88.1%) (751,212 out of 852,721) of the claim transactions are made by medical practitioners. Chinese medicine practitioners (9.3%) (79,377) and dentists (1.9%) (16,396) rank second and third in terms of utilization of vouchers. In terms of number of vouchers claimed, medical practitioners constitute the largest proportion (87.1%) (1,861,348 out of 2,136,630 vouchers), followed by Chinese medicine practitioners (8.4%) (180,324) and dentists (3.5%) (74,751).

18. Among the nine health professions, dentists have the highest average number of voucher claimed per transaction (4.56 vouchers per transaction) whereas the two lowest are medical practitioners (2.48 vouchers per transaction) and Chinese medicine practitioners (2.27 vouchers per transaction). The median of vouchers claimed per transaction for dentists is

4.75 whereas for medical practitioners and Chinese medicine practitioners are

2.77 and 2.43 respectively.

19. For distribution of claims by reason of visit, a high proportion of claim transactions (69.4%) are made for management of acute episodic conditions.

Follow‐up / monitoring of long term conditions account for 21.4%. Only 6.5% and 2.7% of the claim transactions are made for preventive healthcare service and rehabilitative care respectively.

20. In terms of the number of vouchers used during each transaction, the most common pattern (40.4%) is the use of two vouchers ($50 x 2), followed by three vouchers ($50 x 3) (21.8%) and one voucher ($50 x 1) (21.1%). No information on additional charges above the vouchers claimed is available as healthcare providers are currently not required to supply such information.

21. The eHealth statistics reveal that there are 25% eHealth accounts with claim transactions involving two or more medical practitioners. 75% of eHealth accounts with more than one claim transaction involved only one medical practitioner. Most of the elderly tend to stay with the same medical practitioner when using vouchers.

Opinion Survey and Willingness‐to‐pay Study

22. To gauge the views and opinions of the elderly and healthcare service providers about the Scheme, an opinion survey and four focus group discussions were conducted between January and June 2010. In order to further assess the willingness to pay for private primary healthcare services among the elderly and to examine the level of subsidy that would incentivize the elderly to change their healthcare seeking behaviour for private primary healthcare services, a willingness‐to‐pay study was conducted in June and July 2010. These studies were undertaken by the School of Public Health and Primary Care of Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Opinion survey

23. A total of 1,026 elderly people were recruited from public parks, General Out‐patient Clinics of Hospital Authority, Elderly Health Centres of the Department of Health and private general practitioners’ clinics. They included participants and non‐participants of the Scheme. 70% of the elderly said that they were aware of the Scheme. 35% said that they had actually used the vouchers.

Reasons for using vouchers

24. The survey reveals that elderly people who are used to seeing private doctors are more ready and prepared than those relying on the public healthcare system to register and make use of health care vouchers. Comparison is made on use of vouchers for subpopulations according to the type of doctors they usually visit. 24% of the elderly who usually visited public doctors had made use of their vouchers. For those who usually visited private general practitioners’ clinics, 49% of them had made use of their vouchers during consultation. Comparison is also made for two sub‐groups, viz. voucher users and non‐voucher users. For those who had made use of vouchers, comparatively speaking, more elderly people were used to seeing private doctors (27.5% usually visited private doctors, 49.4% visited both private and public doctors, and only 23.0% usually visited public doctors). For those who had never made use of vouchers, many of them were used to seeing public doctors (43.2% usually visited public doctors, 40.2% visited both private and public doctors, and only 16.6% usually visited private doctors). The trigger for the use of vouchers was to make good use of the subsidy given by the Government (36%), followed by shorter waiting time (33%), and recommendation from friends, doctors and nurses (18%).

25. For those who were aware of the Scheme but had never used their vouchers (328), the reasons for not using vouchers included the healthcare professionals whom they usually visited had not enrolled in the Scheme (24%), the elderly were used to seeing public doctors (24%), the elderly were healthy and did not have to consult healthcare professionals (23%), and they could not find an enrolled healthcare professional nearby (22%).

Scheme awareness

26. Some 71% of the interviewed elderly were aware of the Scheme. Television advertisement (58%) was the key source of information, followed by press and magazines (23%), and enrolled healthcare service providers (20%). Among those elderly people who were aware of the Scheme, 47% of the respondents felt the information provided to them was very, quite or fairly sufficient. Among the 31% of elderly people who felt that the information was insufficient, 53% would like to learn more on how to use the vouchers and 43% would like to know the channels where they could obtain the list of

enrolled healthcare professionals.

Scheme scope: subsidy amount

27. Of the 1,026 elderly people who participated in the survey, 17% (35% were voucher users) of them considered the annual subsidy amount of $250 was enough. 68% (39% were voucher users) of them considered the subsidy amount of $250 per annum was not enough. Among those who considered the amount was not enough, 36% preferred a subsidy amount of $300‐$500 and 32% preferred a subsidy amount of $501‐$1,000.

Scheme scope: age eligibility

28. A total of 233 elderly people aged 60‐69 were interviewed during the survey. The majority of the respondents (74%) thought that the age eligibility should be lowered. Among them, 70% suggested lowering the age to 65 years old.

Scheme scope: health service coverage

29. Of the 1,020 elderly people who answered the question on coverage of health services, 24% of elderly people thought that the coverage of health services was insufficient. Among those who provided suggestions to enhance the service coverage (173), 63% suggested adding public clinics and 28% suggested adding optometrist to the list of participating healthcare professionals.

Scheme delivery

30. Elderly people’s satisfaction of the Scheme was assessed by asking whether they considered the Scheme useful or convenient to use. Some 65% of interviewed elderly people (including both voucher users and non‐voucher users) considered the Scheme useful. Among the 359 voucher users, 79% considered the Scheme useful.

31. In addition, the elderly were also asked on whether they considered the vouchers were convenient to use. Some 64% of the interviewees (including both voucher users and non‐voucher users) considered the

vouchers were convenient to use. Among the 359 voucher users, 80% considered the vouchers convenient to use.

Scheme impact: choice of healthcare services after Scheme launch

32. Of 1,026 elderly people who participated in the survey, one third (32%) said that the Scheme encouraged them to use private primary care service more than before. Some 66% of the elderly considered that the Scheme did not change their behaviour in seeking private primary healthcare services. Major reasons for no change of health seeking behaviour included “used to seeing public doctors (26%)” and “the subsidy amount was too little (24%)”.

Scheme impact: change in service fees after Scheme launch

33. In the survey, the elderly were asked whether, from a perception point of view, the consultation fees in general had increased subsequent to the launch of the Scheme. 45% did not perceive any increase in consultation fees. 42% reported that they did not know whether the Scheme had led to any increase in consultation fees. 14% perceived that the consultation fees increased as a result of the Scheme.

Willingness‐to‐pay study

34. To assess the elderly’s willingness‐to‐pay, their sensitivity towards subsidy amount and health seeking behaviour, the Willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) Study was conducted between June and July 2010 among 1,164 elderly people aged 60 or above.

Willingness‐to‐pay and co‐pay

35. The elderly were asked what was the maximum amount they were willing to pay for a visit to see a private medical practitioner for different conditions, and what was the maximum additional amount they were willing to co‐pay if the Government provided subsidy for them to seek care in the private sector. The results show that their willingness to pay (WTP) and the amounts they were willing to co‐pay for private primary care services varied by type of diseases and services.

36. The average WTP amounts for general health conditions and acute condition were within the current price range in private sector. However, the WTP amounts for chronic condition and preventive care such as health check and dental check fell below the price range in private sector. For chronic conditions (47%) and dental check (54%), almost half of the respondents were unwilling to pay for private healthcare service (WTP=$0). For health check, 36% of respondents were unwilling to pay for such service (WTP=$0). 32% out of the total respondents were willing to pay an amount within or above the price range for health check in private sector, and another 32% willing to pay an amount below the market price range for health check. The elderly in general were more willing to pay for acute episodic condition. 76% of elderly were willing to pay for such services, including 65% willing to pay an amount within or above the price range in private sector and 11% willing to pay an amount below market price range. The main reasons for being unwilling to pay for private healthcare service were “used to seeing public doctors” and “private healthcare services were too expensive”.

37. The elderly were also asked on the maximum amount they were willing to pay for service managing minor illness and chronic illness, if the Government provided them with different level of subsidy. It is noted that more than half of the elderly were willing to co‐pay the same amount despite different amounts of subsidies potentially provided by the Government.

Subsidy

38. The elderly were asked the lowest amount of Government subsidy that would encourage them (i) to see a private medical practitioner among those who have been consulting public doctors for different diseases, (ii) to have a health check regularly in the private sector among those who had not done so, and (iii) to have dental check in the private sector. The findings reveal that the subsidy requested varies by type of diseases and services. By and large, the elderly requested more subsidy for chronic conditions, health checks and dental check. In other words, the elderly were more willing to pay for management of acute episodic diseases than chronic conditions and preventive care.

Conclusion and Recommendations

39. The interim review brings to light points worth noting regarding the Scheme over the past two years through its initial operation, and at the same time identifies areas requiring further attention. It deepens our understanding of the behaviour of elderly people and healthcare service providers in the use of health care vouchers and in seeking and providing healthcare services. Its findings provide us with a foundation for making observations and recommendations to improve the Scheme with a view to achieving the objectives of enhancing the health of the elderly. It also enables us to identify potential pitfalls in public‐private partnership that provide useful inputs to the design of any other public‐private partnership schemes for delivering healthcare.

40. In overall terms, the review shows that the Scheme, while might not have been able to readily achieve all the objectives it was intended for, has made a start in establishing an effective and efficient mechanism for the provision of healthcare services with government subsidies through public‐private partnership. Meanwhile, the interim review also reminds us that it is no easy task to induce behavioural changes among the elderly in seeking and among the providers in providing healthcare services. It shows that more efforts are required for the key notions of good primary healthcare especially preventive care, as well as the concept of continuum of care to be more widely promoted and accepted among elderly population and healthcare providers. It also points to the need for the Scheme operation including its supporting platform to be further strengthened.

Key Observations on the Scheme

(i) Scheme awareness and participation

41. The findings of the interim review show that the Scheme has made a good start in raising the awareness of the elderly to primary healthcare and widening the choices of healthcare services to the elderly. The high awareness of the elderly of the Scheme (over 70%) signifies that the Scheme has gradually taken root in the community. This provides a good basis for furthering the objectives of the pilot to enhance primary care for the elderly and also for the promotion of other public‐private partnership schemes in

healthcare.

42. The participation rate of the elderly (57% eligible elderly people registered in the Scheme and 45% eligible elderly people have actually used vouchers as at 31 December 2010) is noticeably higher than other public‐private partnership schemes, signifying that the scheme has been able to attract the attention of the elderly. However, given that one of the main reasons for not using vouchers is that the elderly are used to seeking public healthcare, and that these elderly are less likely to seek private healthcare, more effort would be needed to encourage participation among the elderly.

43. The participation rate of healthcare professionals (34% for medical practitioners) has been on par with other public‐private partnership schemes and geographically distributed across the territory, providing a large number of choices for the elderly. However, given that one of the main reasons for not using voucher is that the provider usually seen by the elderly has not enrolled in the Scheme, there appears room for further improvement in promotion efforts and participation rate among healthcare providers especially medical practitioners.

(ii) Satisfaction with the Scheme

44. Convenience and user‐friendliness are the two guiding principles in designing and fine‐tuning the eHealth System on which the Scheme runs and operates. In the survey about the general perception of the Scheme of both the voucher users and non‐voucher users, a majority (64%) perceived that the vouchers were convenient to use and 65% of interviewed elderly people considered the Scheme useful. Among those who actually used the vouchers, 80% of them agreed that the vouchers were convenient to use and 79% of them considered the Scheme useful. It shows that the Scheme has been designed along the right track, and has provided a sound basis for the further development of public‐private partnership in healthcare and subsidization schemes aiming at enhancing primary healthcare.

45. The operation of the Scheme had encountered various teething problems at the initial phase of the Scheme, mostly concerning the use of the electronic platform and the procedures for making claims. These have soon been identified and addressed through the concerted efforts of parties

concerned, and the operation details of the Scheme have been streamlined significantly since. Improvements on this front are recognized by elderly users, as evidenced by the favourable response they gave in the opinion survey concerning convenience of using vouchers. The use of vouchers in electronic form through the eHealth System has helped promote familiarization of e‐transaction among the elderly population and healthcare providers. Some healthcare service providers, nevertheless, consider the eHealth System can further be improved its user‐friendliness in the light of clinical operation.

46. After the initial phase, the operation of the Scheme including its claims mechanism and eHealth System has been smooth and efficient, as indicated by the low number of support requests or complaints from users, the high compliance with pledged performance targets for claims processing, and the effective monitoring of the operation of the Scheme and claims pattern. The eHealth System established and refined enables us to implement and further test the concept of “money follows patient”, and has also benefited other public‐private partnership schemes (e.g. the vaccination subsidy schemes) in providing a highly efficient platform for providing small amount of government subsidies for healthcare services that are high in volume.

47. The Scheme had also established a network of healthcare providers in the community who are mostly involved in the provision of primary healthcare services to the elderly as well as the population at large. The engagement of these providers through various public‐private partnership schemes in delivery healthcare services, including the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme, is instrumental to the implementation of our primary care development strategy and development of primary health care services in the community, as the private sector provides the majority of primary health care services available to the population. In this regard, the Scheme has taken a major step in the direction of establishing a public‐private partnership model and platform that is necessary to enable change of healthcare seeking and providing behaviour among users and providers.

(iii) Impact on healthcare seeking behaviour

48. Broadly speaking, the Scheme has so far failed to induce any

noticeable behavioural change on the part of both users and providers of primary healthcare services, during the first two years of the pilot period. In particular, there is no evidence so far that the Scheme has brought about any noticeable changes in the healthcare seeking behaviour among the elderly, or resulted in an increase in the utilization and provision of preventive care service. The review indicated that inertia of the elderly already seeking care in the public sector, participation of healthcare providers that the elderly usually see, and the relatively lower willingness‐to‐pay for preventive care are main factors impeding the desired changes.

49. The fact that only about 6.5% of health care vouchers claimed went towards preventive service (with about 70% for episodic care) shows that most elderly people give preventive services a low priority when it comes to healthcare spending decision. The Willingness‐to‐pay Study also shows that the elderly are less willing to pay for preventive care than episodic care. This is a conception that has taken root among the elderly, and takes time and the concerted efforts of all – Government, healthcare service providers, the media, etc – to gradually induce a cultural change that puts more value and emphasis on preventive care.

50. It appears from the review that these behavioural changes are not easy to induce, even with the aid of health care vouchers. The review showed that elderly people who are used to seeing private doctors are more ready and prepared than those relying on the public healthcare system to register and make use of health care vouchers. On the other hand, those elderly who are accustomed to seeking healthcare in the public system are only marginally motivated to seek private primary care services on account of the subsidies provided by the vouchers. Most elderly people tend to follow their usual healthcare‐seeking pattern despite the availability of health care vouchers.

51. On the other hand, the review showed encouraging signs that the elderly do tend to stay with the same healthcare provider they use vouchers for especially in the case of medical practitioner. This is conducive to the development of continuous doctor‐patient relationship and the concept of family doctor providing comprehensive care to them. With the right design and incentive, it is still possible for the Scheme to initiate the desired behavioural changes essential to the development of comprehensive and

holistic primary healthcare. However, further and more in‐depth monitoring and analysis would be needed to assess the effects of the Scheme on such changes.

(iv) Price and subsidy for healthcare services

52. The review indicates that subsidy, price and co‐payment required for healthcare services are important factors to be considered in affecting the elderly’s healthcare seeking behaviour. As the Willingness‐to‐pay Study shows, the elderly in general are more willing to pay for curative care, with the average falling within the price range for private curative healthcare. This may also be one of the reasons for the voucher use concentrating on curative care. On the other hand, the elderly are relatively much less willing to pay for preventive and chronic disease care. This suggests that price and subsidy level are key indicators to be monitored.

53. The launch of the Scheme aims at providing partial subsidies for the elderly to receive private primary care services in the community with a view to enhancing primary healthcare services for the elderly and promoting well‐being among them. The launch of the Scheme is also expected to introduce the concept of co‐payment among the elderly in seeking healthcare services. We note that in most instances when vouchers are used, the elderly people concerned also meet part of their consultation fees out of their own pocket. In this respect, the concept of co‐payment is realized. However, as revealed by the Willingness‐to‐pay Study, there is only limited incentive for the elderly to co‐pay more (in absolute terms) when the voucher amount is increased. The relatively lower willingness to co‐pay for preventive care than curative care and the concentration of voucher use on curative care also makes it difficult to assess the effect of subsidy on co‐payment.

54. Since the current Scheme does not require providers to provide more specific information on healthcare services provided and additional co‐payment charged over vouchers, we cannot ascertain with certainty if the actual co‐payment charged for specific healthcare services are within affordable range of the elderly, or if the co‐payment charged for specific services are beyond the willingness‐to‐pay of the elderly. The sampling survey suggests no significant degree of perceived increase in service fees, though a small but not insignificant proportion of elderly people did report

perceived increase in service fees due to the use of vouchers. However, given the sampling size and also lack of benchmark for comparison, we cannot conclude with certainty how co‐payment level has played a role in influencing the healthcare seeking behaviour of the elderly, and if increasing the subsidy level might help change such behaviour.

55. The above observations suggest that any increase in subsidy level through higher voucher amount should be carefully calibrated to address the intention to influence the desired healthcare behavioural changes and the need to promote appropriate co‐payment for healthcare service utilization. This is necessary to ensure that public monies are properly spent while suitably addressing the objectives of the Scheme and the needs and concerns of the elderly. The above also suggest that the monitoring and assessment of price and subsidy level for different healthcare services should be strengthened, so that the effect of government subsidy through the vouchers on healthcare seeking and providing behaviour could be better evaluated.

(v) Coverage of healthcare service providers

56. Optometrists are not currently included as eligible healthcare providers under the Scheme. We note that some elderly people (28% of the elderly as revealed in the opinion survey) have expressed the wish for including Optometrists under the Scheme so that healthcare services provided by them could also be met through health care vouchers. We also note in particular that Optometrists with Part I registration under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Cap. 359) are qualified to provide certain preventive care services concerning eye conditions, for example, to conduct visual acuity examination for patients suffering from cataract and diabetes. Their inclusion may thus help facilitate the greater use of preventive care by the elderly.

Recommendations

57. Having regard to the findings of the interim review, we recommend that the Scheme be extended for another pilot period of three years, from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014, when the current pilot period ends on 31 December 2011. This is to allow further testing the effectiveness of the Scheme in furthering the policy objectives to enhance the primary health care

for the elderly and to enable them to choose private primary health care in their neighbourhood, through providing partial subsidies to the elderly through health care vouchers.

58. The proposed extension of the pilot period of the Scheme is in keeping with the strategies for the promotion and development of primary care as set out in the Strategy Document on Primary Care Development in Hong Kong and can tie in with the Primary Care Campaign to be launched in Q2 2011. In particular, the extended Scheme will allow a longer period to assess the effectiveness of using vouchers to promote good primary care among the elderly and healthcare providers, including: continued relationship between the elderly and their healthcare providers, more provision and utilization of preventive healthcare services, and the concept of continuum of care and well‐being among the elderly and their healthcare providers.

59. In this regard, on the basis of the findings of the interim review, we recommend that the following specific measures be taken in conjunction with the extension of the Scheme for the further three year pilot period ‐

(a) Increase the voucher amount per year for the next three‐year pilot period (from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014) from

$250 to $500, while keeping the dollar value of each voucher the same as before (i.e. $50 each). The number of vouchers given to each eligible elderly person will be increased to ten. In this connection, we note that there are demands for increasing the voucher amount from the elderly and different quarters of the community. We also note that an increased voucher amount would help better assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in achieving its policy objectives. On the other hand, we need to carefully consider whether and, if so, to what extent an increase in voucher amount would affect the healthcare seeking behaviour among the elderly, the prices to be charged by healthcare service providers, the amount elderly people are willing to co‐pay and the emphasis elderly people put on preventive services. We consider that the recommendation to increase the voucher amount per year to $500 strikes a right balance, and ensures that public monies are properly spent.

(b) There is a need to forge closer collaboration with healthcare professionals to further promote the importance of primary care, both among elderly people and service providers, and to encourage utilization and provision of such services, having regard to the reference framework to be developed for the elderly under the primary care development strategy. Apart from publicity and education, we will enhance efforts to promote, in partnership with interested and qualified healthcare service providers, a voluntary, protocol‐based elderly health check programme at affordable prices for elderly people. Elderly people aged 70 or above could meet the payment, partly or wholly, through health care vouchers. The health check programme will be modeled on the established practices and service protocol of the Elderly Health Centres under the Department of Health.

(c) Allow, on a one‐off basis on account of extension of the three‐year further pilot period, the unspent balance of health care vouchers under the current pilot period (ending 31 December 2011) to be carried forward into the next pilot period (from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014). This is to allow a fuller assessment of the effectiveness of the Scheme and the utilization of health care vouchers in the next pilot period. Given the significant financial liability arising from accumulation of vouchers, all unused vouchers should lapse on the expiry of theextended pilot period ending 31 December 2014, irrespective of whether the voucher scheme will continue or otherwise.

(d) Improve upon the operation of the Scheme and step up monitoring over the use of health care vouchers by enhancing the data‐capturing functions of the eHealth System in the following two aspects –

(i) Diagnosis information: we would explore the feasibility for participating healthcare service providers to input more specific information on the healthcare services provided to voucher users. For example, participating medical

practitioners would be required to provide more specific clinical diagnosis, rather than the broad indication under the current “reason of visit” arrangement, for their voucher users so as to better enable the Administration to assess and monitor the healthcare services provided to the elderly; and

(ii) Co‐payment:participatinghealthcareserviceproviders would be required to input the co‐payment made by an elderly person for each consultation involving the use of health care voucher(s). Coupled with (i), this will allow the price and subsidy level for specific healthcare services to be better monitored, and the impact of vouchers on healthcare services be better assessed.

(e) Add optometrists with Part I registration under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Cap. 359) to the Schemewith effect from the next pilot period, i.e. 1 January 2012, subject to the requirement that vouchers should only be used for provision of healthcare services and must not be used to cover the purchase of equipment (e.g. spectacles).

60. Apart from the above, we do not recommend making any changes to other rules of the Scheme. Specifically, we will, in the further three‐year pilot period, continue to –

(a) Maintain the existing age eligibility, i.e. aged 70 or above. In view that the effectiveness of the voucher model in changing healthcare seeking behaviour has yet to be fully ascertained, we consider it prudent to continue the pilot scheme with the existing pool of eligible elderly and further assess the impact of the Scheme on healthcare utilization and price. Given the proposed increase in voucher amount, maintaining the pool of eligible elderly would also help minimize the risk of price inflation of private healthcare services due to increased government subsidy.

(b) Keep the current rules on the use of health care vouchers (i.e. usable for private healthcare services, but not for purchase of

drugs at pharmacies, purchase of medical items, or public healthcare services, etc). Given the objective of the Scheme to enhance primary healthcare for the elderly through public‐private partnership and in view of concerns over double‐subsidy using public money, we maintain the view that vouchers should only be used for private services, but not for medical items or public healthcare.

(c) Retain the current flexibility in using health care vouchers (i.e. no limit on the number of vouchers that may be used for each episode of healthcare services, no restriction on the type of healthcare services or providers for which each voucher may be used, and no limit on the amount of vouchers to be used for different types of healthcare services or providers). This is to allow the voucher model to be further and more fully assessed on its effectiveness to enhance and incentivize various primary healthcare services. However, restrictions or limitations may need to be imposed eventually in the light of further review of the Scheme especially voucher utilization over the extended pilot period.

PURPOSE

The objective of this interim review is to examine the operation and utilization of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme (the Scheme) and to collect feedback from the elderly and healthcare service providers in order to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the Scheme and to make recommendations on its improvement and way forward.

BACKGROUND

POLICY ADDRESS

2. The Chief Executive announced in his 2007‐08 Policy Address that the Government would launch a three‐year pilot scheme to provide elderly people (aged 70 or above) with health care vouchers to partially subsidise their use of primary care services in the private sector.

SCHEME OBJECTIVES

3. The Scheme aims at –

(a) providing partial subsidies for the elderly to receive private primary healthcare services in the community, as additional choices on top of the existing public primary care services, with a view to enhancing the primary care services for the elderly and promoting continuity of care of elderly people with their chosen healthcare service providers;

(b) implementing the “money follows patient” concept on a trial basis, enabling the elderly to choose their own private primary care services in their neighbourhood that suit their needs most, thereby piloting a new model for subsidised primary care services in the future; and

(c) through providing partial subsidies, serving to promote the concept of continuum of care for health care among patients and ensure appropriate use of healthcare services through co‐payment, and facilitating access to private primary care as an alternative.

IMPLEMENTATION

SCHEME DESIGN AND FEATURES

Elderly persons eligible to participate in the Scheme

4. The Scheme was launched to eligible elderly people on 1 January 2009. Under the Scheme, elderly persons aged 70 or above who hold a Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID) or Certificate of Exemption during the implementation period of the Scheme would be provided with five health care vouchers of $50 each annually for using services provided by healthcare service providers participating in the Scheme.

Healthcare service providers eligible to participate in the Scheme

5. Nine types of healthcare professional who are registered in Hong Kong are eligible to participate in the Scheme: medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists, chiropractors, registered and enrolled nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and medical laboratory technologists. Healthcare service providers who wish to participate in the Scheme should register with the Department of Health (DH) in advance.

Restrictions on the use of health care vouchers

6. Health care vouchers are designated for services provided by enrolled healthcare service providers. The health services could be preventive, curative or rehabilitative in nature. Health care vouchers cannot be used for the purchase of drugs at pharmacies so as to avoid self‐prescription. Neither can they be used for the purchase of prosthesis or other medical items. Health care vouchers also cannot be used to pay for subsidised public healthcare services, including those publicly subsidised healthcare services purchased from the private sector such as the healthcare services purchased by Hospital Authority from the private sector in Tin Shui Wai.

7. Health care vouchers are valid within the three‐year implementation period of the Scheme, and vouchers unused each year may be retained for use

in the following year(s), but no advance of vouchers which are yet to be issued is allowed.

SCHEME OPERATION

Mechanism for issuing and using health care vouchers

8. Vouchers are issued and used through an electronic platform, viz. the eHealth System which also manages healthcare service provider enrolment, voucher accounts, claims and reimbursement. Vouchers are not issued in paper form separately. The elderly do not need to register in advance, collect or carry vouchers. When using vouchers, they only need to choose an enrolled healthcare service provider whose practice displaying the Scheme logo and show their HKIDs or Certificate of Exemption for registration. Participating healthcare service providers input the personal particulars of the elderly persons (such as name, HKID number and date of birth) into the eHealth System for registering and opening individual health care voucher accounts for first‐time voucher users. The vouchers for which the elderly are eligible during the pilot period of the Scheme are then issued and deposited to the elderly’s health care voucher accounts created.

9. The elderly can use the health care vouchers in their accounts through any participating healthcare service providers after their accounts have been created. Healthcare service providers have to ensure that there is sufficient voucher balance in the eHealth accounts before they are allowed to deduct vouchers from the elderly persons’ accounts. Prior to any voucher deduction, healthcare service providers have to obtain consent forms signed by the elderly on the number of vouchers to be deducted. They are also required to keep the duly signed consent forms for random checking, verification and auditing by the Administration. Upon deduction of vouchers from the elderly persons’ accounts, the healthcare service providers have to input basic information (e.g. the reasons for elderly persons to seek medical consultation and the healthcare services they have received) into the eHealth System. Information captured by the eHealth System provides important data for the Administration to conduct analyses on different aspects of the Scheme so that shortcomings could be identified and improvements could be made as and when necessary.

Arrangement for reimbursement of health care vouchers

10. Each month, participating healthcare service providers can access the System for their monthly statements which contain reimbursement details of health care vouchers payable to them. The reimbursement would be paid directly into the bank accounts designated by healthcare service providers each month.

eHealth System

11. The eHealth System is a web‐based system which serves as an electronic platform on which voucher‐based and subsidy schemes operate. With the System, electronic vouchers are used, obviating the need for paper‐form vouchers. The System was originally designed for the Scheme launched on 1 January 2009. The eHealth System has been expanded since late 2009 to cover vaccination subsidy schemes including seasonal influenza and pneumococcal vaccination.

12. Key features of the eHealth System are as follows ‐

(a) Managing information on healthcare service providers

eHealth System maintains a database of participating healthcare service providers. Healthcare service providers who wish to participate in the Scheme can provide through the System part of the information required for enrolment, amend the information after enrolment, access monthly statements, etc.

(b) Managing eHealth accounts and making claims

The System maintains a database of eHealth accounts created for eligible elderly people. The System will open eHealth accounts for elderly persons who visit participating service providers and use voucher(s) for the first time. The System will issue and deposit vouchers for which elderly persons are eligible during the pilot period of the Scheme to their eHealth accounts. It serves to process claims for the use of vouchers and record the usage. To facilitate the making of claims, the System will display, inter alia, the number of

unused vouchers under the Scheme. Relevant information such as the number of vouchers used, service date and reason for visit, etc is also captured.

Elderly persons can check their voucher account balance through the System via Internet (https://apps.hcv.gov.hk/hcvr/en/) by keying in their HKID number and date of birth. They can also check their voucher account balance through telephone (i.e. the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)) on 2838 0511.

(c) Managing reimbursement of health care vouchers

The System compiles, on a monthly basis, consolidated information on the amount reimbursable under the Scheme for each participating healthcare service provider. This facilitates payment directly into bank accounts designated by healthcare service providers.

(d) Monitoring the Scheme

The System generates regular statistical reports to facilitate the planning and management of the daily operation of the Scheme. It will also detect irregularity in the use of vouchers so as to facilitate timely follow‐up actions and, where necessary, investigations.

Privacy Impact Assessment and Privacy Compliance Assessment

13. DH commissioned Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Deloitte) in May 2008 to conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and a Privacy Compliance Assessment (PCA) of the eHealth System. The PIA was to identify any key risks in the collection, maintenance and dissemination of personal data in the eHealth System, with reference to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), the Code of Practices approved and issued by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Registration of Persons Ordinance and Regulations. It also assessed whether controls on use of personal information were in place and provided recommendations in handling personal data with a view to minimizing or eradicating the identified privacy impacts. The PCA was to ensure that the privacy issues identified in the PIA were addressed and that safeguards to enhance privacy protection were duly

implemented.

14. The PIA on phase I of eHealth System was carried out between July and December 2008 whereas the PCA was conducted in December 2008. To examine different modules of the eHealth System from privacy impact point of view, Deloitte assessed the data management process, general computer controls, network security and conducted the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance compliance analysis. The PCA concluded that all privacy related issues brought forth during the course of PIA were rectified and resolved prior to roll‐out of the eHealth System on 1 January 2009.

15. The PIA and PCA on phase II of eHealth System taking into account the enhancement of Smart HKID deployment for creating eHealth accounts and claiming vouchers were carried out between April and July 2010. The privacy related findings and issues identified during the course of PIA were rectified by DH before the full launch of Smart HKID deployment for eHealth accounts creation and voucher claims in October 2010.

Security Risk Assessment and Audit

16. In addition, DH engaged Computer and Technologies Solutions Limited (C&T) to conduct Security Risk Assessments (SRA) and Audits of phase I and II of the eHealth System in May 2008 and June 2010 respectively. The studies aimed to evaluate the security risks of the eHealth System, to identify and recommend measures to strengthen the level of security protection and revise the security status after these measures had been implemented. Both assessments concluded that the vulnerabilities identified in the course of SRA were fixed and solved. The current IT security risk level of the eHealth System was found satisfactory, and complied with the Government’s IT Security Policy, and Security Regulations.

The electronic platform piloting a model for scheme administration

17. The significance of the eHealth System is that it pilots the establishment of an electronic platform for administrating targeted subsidization for healthcare services (i.e. the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme in this case) which are low in amount ($250 per year per eligible elderly person) and high in volume (about an average of 400,000 claim

transactions involving an average of about 1,000,000 electronic vouchers per year), at a relatively low administrative costs. The Government has earmarked $30 million for developing and maintaining the electronic system and $38 million to cover staff cost and other operating expenditure during the pilot period. A funding of $505.33 million has been earmarked for voucher reimbursement during the three‐year pilot. Our aim is to keep the administrative overhead of the Scheme, as far as possible, to below 10% of the amount of subsidies, and to achieve further economy of scale when the scope and number of vouchers or subsidies are expanded. In 2009, the eHealth System has been expanded to include other subsidisation schemes, viz. the various vaccination subsidy schemes.

18. To further streamline the System operation and improve ease of use of the System, various enhancements and improvement measures have been introduced since 2009.

IMPROVEMENT MEASURES

19. Since the launch of the Scheme in January 2009, the Administration has implemented a series of improvement measures for the convenience of both healthcare service providers and the elderly in the light of actual operation and user feedback.

Data input of claim transactions

20. In April 2009, the eHealth System was modified and enhanced to make it more user‐friendly to healthcare service providers. The changes allowed enrolled healthcare service providers greater flexibility in entering and submitting data to the System by suitably adjusting the arrangements for back‐date entry of transactions. The time limit of inputting service date of making claims was allowed and extended to seven days.

Modification to Consent Form

21. The format of patients’ consent forms has also been modified. New printing options were added with a view to reducing paper usage. The option for printing “full version” (one claim per page) and “condensed version” (multiple claims on one page) of consent forms (Appendix 1) are available on

the Internet for selection by healthcare service providers. An enrolled healthcare service provider is free to select the way how consent form is printed. He can pre‐set the desired printing option or select the printing option each time when a claim is made.

No need to arrange Voucher Account Creation Form

22. Before September 2009, eligible elderly people were required to approach a participating healthcare service provider of their choice, produce their HKID and sign a form (i.e. Voucher Account Creation Form) to create an account in the eHealth System when they used the vouchers for the first time. From September 2009 onwards, it is no longer necessary for enrolled healthcare service providers to require an eligible elderly person to sign the Voucher Account Creation Form. Flexibility has since been given to enrolled healthcare service providers to obtain consent in a form they deem appropriate for the creation of voucher accounts. The eHealth System only requires that a declaration be made via the system that such a consent has been secured.

23. In response to the feedback from some of the healthcare service providers about their storage problem on the bulk of Voucher Account Creation Forms for their clients, DH, in November 2009, made a special arrangement to collect the Voucher Account Creation Forms from enrolled healthcare service providers. The return of Voucher Account Creation Forms to DH is on a voluntary basis and healthcare service providers may choose to retain the forms for record purpose if they wish. In addition, the minimum retention period of the Voucher Account Creation Forms was reduced from 30 years to 7 years.

Use of Smart Identity Card Reader

24. To further streamline procedures and provide greater convenience to the healthcare service providers, it is now feasible to make use of the “card face data1” function in the chips of the Smart HKID for registration and authentication. It provides an alternative means to participating healthcare service providers to register persons eligible for vouchers and to access their

1 “Card face data” refers to the data of card holders printed on the face of Smart HKID, i.e. the Chinese and English names, date of birth, HKID number and the date of issue of the HKIDs.

accounts for claiming vouchers, obviating manual input and ensuring data accuracy.

25. Since August 2010, DH has made available and freely distributed the Smart Identity Card Reader to reduce healthcare service providers’ efforts in inputting the elderly’s related personal particulars into the eHealth System and minimize the chance of errors during manual input. DH together with eHealth System Information Technology Support Team and the Office of Government Chief Information Officer jointly organised four demonstrations / briefing sessions on the installation and use of Smart Identity Card Reader for the enrolled healthcare service providers.

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION

26. The Scheme was publicized through television and radio announcements of public interest. As at 31 December 2010, there were over 471,000 visits to the website (http://www.hcv.gov.hk/).A total of 120,000 pamphlets, 11,000 posters and 5,000 DVDs were distributed. Publicity materials were disseminated through General Out‐patient Clinics, public hospitals, Senior Citizen Card Office, Elderly Health Centres and District Offices in 18 districts. Over 150 District Elderly Community Centres and Neighbourhood Elderly Community Centres also received the information pamphlets and posters through the Visiting Health Team of Elderly Health Services. DH arranged briefing sessions for healthcare service providers, non‐governmental organizations involved in providing services to the elderly, and other stakeholders to enhance their understanding of the Scheme and solicit their support. By end December 2010, a total of 36,500 enquiries on the Scheme were received through the general enquiry line (3582 4102) and the IVRS telephone enquiry system (2838 2311).

27. To facilitate registration and accounts creation among the elderly with special needs both in the community and in Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (RCHEs), a special campaign was launched in Q4 2009 to help the elderly create eHealth accounts for receiving subsidised vaccination and claiming health care vouchers. Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) was engaged to assist the elderly living in the community or RCHEs. The campaign was launched in two stages. The first stage commenced on 29 September 2009 and was completed prior to the start of the 2009‐10

vaccination season. The second stage started on 15 December 2009 and was completed in a couple of weeks for preparation of Human Swine Influenza vaccination among the elderly.

28. The campaign targeting elderly people in the community was launched on 14 September 2009 and completed on 30 November 2009. DH, in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department, introduced the campaign to 788 RCHEs on 11 September 2009. Promotional materials were sent to District Elderly Community Centres and Neighbourhood Elderly Centres Homes (Appendix 2). An official letter appealing to stakeholders was sent to solicit their support on 15 September 2009. In collaboration with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, DH organized a briefing session on 24 September 2009 to staff of elderly centres introducing the Elderly Vaccination Subsidy Scheme and Registration for eHealth Account Campaign for the elderly.

29. With the sustained publicity and promotion efforts, the number of elderly people registered for healthcare vouchers has been rising continuously since the launch of the Scheme, with an average of 16,000 elderly people newly registering each month.

REIMBURSEMENT

30. The Administration pledges to reimburse enrolled healthcare service providers for valid voucher claims made through the eHealth System within 30 days after the end of each month. As at 31 December 2010, a total of 852,721 claim transactions under the validated accounts involving 2,136,630 vouchers were processed for reimbursement, with 100% compliance with the performance pledge. A total of about $106 million have been reimbursed to enrolled healthcare service providers.

POST‐CLAIM CHECKING AND AUDITING

31. The Health Care Voucher Unit set up under DH is responsible for the implementation of the Scheme including the monitoring and auditing of the use of vouchers in order to ensure that vouchers are used by eligible elderly persons only and are genuinely used for healthcare services in compliance with the requirements of the Scheme.

32. As a general rule, participating healthcare service providers are responsible for checking HKID of individuals who claim their vouchers to verify their identity and eligibility. Individuals claiming the vouchers are required to sign a form to signify their claims, and the healthcare service providers are required to keep such forms as well as records of the services provided to the individuals.

33. DH, through the eHealth System, validates relevant information in respect of voucher recipients with the registration of persons’ records kept by the Immigration Department to confirm the eligibility of the persons concerned.

Measures to prevent abuse of the Scheme

34. To ensure the proper disbursement of funding for voucher claims, a mechanism for checking and auditing of voucher claims has been put in place. The checking mechanism covers three areas, viz. (a) routine checking, (b) monitoring and investigation of aberrant patterns of transactions, and (c) investigation of complaints. For routine checking, it is random compliance check on enrolled healthcare service providers. To facilitate the targeted investigation on aberrant pattern of transaction claims, a function is built in the eHealth System to generate reports on aberrant patterns of transactions. An alert report will be generated in situation where there are frequent episodes of voucher used by a single recipient within a short time interval, and an enrolled healthcare service provider having an abnormally high number of claims by multiple vouchers within a short span of time. In the course of checking and investigation, consent forms signed by the elderly concerned and relevant information would be checked. Service records kept by healthcare service providers and their consistency with the data kept in the eHealth System would be checked. Voucher recipients and their carers would also be contacted where necessary to ascertain whether transactions did take place. The protocols on monitoring and investigation of transaction claims made through the eHealth System is at Appendix 3.

35. As at 31 December 2010, a total of 1,711 inspection visits were conducted, involving 1,663 routine checking, 37 targeted investigations on aberrant patterns and nine complaint or reported problem cases (with two

cases each involving two inspection visits). A total of 30,241 claims were checked, representing 4% of claim transactions made. It covers 77% (1,571) enrolled healthcare service providers with claims made.

36. The post‐claim checking and auditing revealed 25 cases of wrong claims as at 31 December 2010, which represents about 4% of the checked claims and 1.7% of healthcare service providers checked. These claims involved errors in procedures or documentation. In order to avoid the recurrence of similar problems, DH had issued reminders to all healthcare service providers on proper procedures and documentation of voucher claims.

37. The Government may at any time terminate the Agreement forthwith by written notice to an enrolled healthcare service provider if: (a) the Government has reasonable doubt that the enrolled healthcare service provider has failed to provide healthcare service in a professional manner or is otherwise guilty of professional misconduct or malpractice; or (b) the enrolled healthcare service provider or his Associated Organization fails to comply with any provision in the Agreement or with any direction or requirement given by the Government or the Director of Health in relation to the Scheme. So far, two medical practitioners and one Chinese medicine practitioner have been delisted from the Scheme.

The Corruption Prevention Department of Independent Commission Against Corruption

38. The Corruption Prevention Department (CPD) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption examines the practices and procedures of Government departments / bureaux and public bodies, and makes recommendations on how opportunities for corruption can be eliminated or reduced. In mid 2008, CPD offered corruption prevention advice to DH on the administration of the Scheme prior to its launch. As the Scheme has been up and running for some time, CPD is currently conducting a Corruption Prevention Study on the Scheme.

The Audit Commission

39. To ascertain whether there are potential risks to regularity, propriety and financial control in the management of the Scheme and its operational

mechanism, the Audit Commission conducted a risk audit of the Scheme in 2009‐10. DH has taken into account their suggestions and observations in fine‐tuning the modus operandi of the Scheme.

INTERIM REVIEW

40. The Pilot Scheme is designed initially with basic parameters of a model piloting subsidisation for primary care services in the private sector. Limitations under the Scheme including restrictions on the usage of vouchers are kept to the minimum to facilitate acceptance of the Scheme by both providers and the elderly, and with a view to testing out the operation and utilization of the Scheme. It is the Administration’s intention to continue to modify and enhance the Scheme, taking into considerations of the feedback, actual operational experience and circumstantial variances. As the Scheme has been implemented for some time, it is opportune to conduct an interim review of the Pilot Scheme so as to streamline its operation, recommend enhancement and consider its way forward.

Objectives of the interim review

41. The objectives of the interim review are to (a) examine voucher utilization by the elderly and participation of healthcare service providers in the Scheme; (b) collect feedback from the elderly (both participating and non‐participating) about the Scheme, including their awareness of the Scheme, means to get to know the Scheme, reasons for Scheme participation / non‐participation, desirable subsidy amount, age eligibility, healthcare services coverage, service delivery and perception about change in service fees and choice of healthcare service after Scheme launch; and (c) collect feedback from healthcare service providers (both enrolled and non‐enrolled) about the Scheme including scheme operation, service delivery, barriers of non‐participation and reasons for withdrawal.

Methodology and source of findings

42. Data collected for analysis and examination include routine data stored in the database of the eHealth System and purposely collected data through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions undertaken by the School of Public Health and Primary Care of the Faculty of Medicine of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong. Two surveys were conducted to collect feedback from the elderly, viz. the opinion survey and the willingness‐to‐pay study. Four focus group discussions were held and 16 telephone interviews were conducted to collect feedback from healthcare service providers.

STATISTICS ON PARTICIPATION AND UTILIZATION

(From 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010)

METHODOLOGY

43. Data kept in the eHealth System were examined to assess the pattern of voucher utilization by the elderly as well as healthcare service providers’ participation in the Scheme. Assessment on the statistical data on eHealth accounts such as where, when and how the claims were made are conducted as it can largely reflect the extent of elderly people’s participation in the Scheme. Efforts have been made to show the position up to 31 December 2010, save for situations where only data up to 31 October 2010 were available for analysis purposes.

RESULTS

(A) Statistics on healthcare service providers

Number of enrolled healthcare service providers

44. To get prepared for the Scheme launch on 1 January 2009, recruitment of healthcare service providers took place in September 2008. A large proportion of service providers were enrolled before Scheme launch. On 1 January 2009, there was a total of 1,783 healthcare service providers enrolled in the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme (the Scheme), involving a total of 2,116 places of practice2.

45. As at 31 December 2010, the number of healthcare service providers has increased to 2,736, involving 3,438 places of practice. A breakdown of the places of practice by areas as at 2009 and 2010 is shown in Table 1.

Distribution of places of practice

46. Figure 1 shows the overall distribution of the places of practice by five regions in 2010. 39.6% (1,363) of the places of practice are in the Kowloon region, in which Yau Tsim Mong district has the highest number of

2 Healthcare service providers may register more than one place of practice during enrolment.

places of practice (549) (not just for the Kowloon region, but also among the 18 districts). Hong Kong Island constitutes 23.4% (803) of the places of practice, with the most and the least participation in Central & Western district

(281) and the Southern district (74) respectively. The proportion of the New Territories West and the New Territories East are 19.8% (681) and 16.0% (549) respectively. There are 1.2% (42) places of practice scattered in Islands district. When comparing the proportion of places of practice over the territory i.e. Hong Kong Islands, Kowloon, the New Territories East, the New Territories West and Islands, it is more or less the same between 2009 and 2010 (Table 1). Figure 2 and Table 2 show the distribution of places of practice in five areas and 18 districts in 2010.

Table 1: Location of places of practice of enrolled healthcare service providers

Total

Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Figure 1: Location of places of practice of enrolled healthcare service providers as at 31 December 2010

Figure 2: Overall distribution of places of practice by five areas and 18 districts as at 31 December 2010

Table 2: Overall distribution of places of practice by five areas and 18 districts as at 31 December 2010

Total

Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Enrolment among healthcare professionals

47. At present, nine categories of healthcare professional who are registered in Hong Kong are eligible to participate in the Scheme. They are medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists, chiropractors, registered nurses and enrolled nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and medical laboratory technologists. Table 3

provides an overview of the 2009 and 2010 enrolment figures for the nine healthcare professionals.

Table 3: Enrolment figures by type of healthcare professional

Total

48. When comparing the enrolment figures between 2009 and 2010, there is a slightly increase in four categories of healthcare profession, viz. medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists and physiotherapists (Table 3). An insignificant drop of enrolment is recorded in registered nurses (less one) and chiropractors (less two). The enrolment of medical laboratory technologists, radiographers, occupational therapists and enrolled nurses remains unchanged. Figure 3 shows the enrolment position for the nine healthcare professionals in 2009 and 2010.

Figure 3: Number of enrolled healthcare service providers in 2009 and 2010

Note: Others include chiropractor, medical laboratory technologist, radiographer, occupational therapist, enrolled and registered nurses

Participation among healthcare professionals

49. We estimate that the participation of medical practitioners, which formed the majority of the enrolled healthcare service providers, is about 34.1% of the potential pool of medical practitioners actively providing healthcare services in the private sector. The participation rate is on par with other public‐private partnership schemes launched by the Government

vaccination subsidy schemes). Participation among other eligible health professions is relatively lower, at 16.1% for dentists and 12.5% for Chinese medicine practitioners. Details of the participation of these three healthcare professionals are set out in Table 4.

Table 4: Enrolment figures as percentage of potential healthcare service providers

Type of healthcare professional

Cumulative number of enrolled

healthcare service providers

Estimated number of potential service providers*

Enrolled healthcare service providers as % of potential service providers

(as at 31 Dec

2009)

(as at 31 Dec

2010)

(as at 31 Dec

2009)

(as at 31 Dec

2010)

Medical Practitioner

1,348

1,431

4,1953

32.1%

34.1%

Chinese Medicine Practitioner

671

762

6,110

11.0%

12.5%

Dentist

221

239

1,4864

14.9%

16.1%

* Not all the registered healthcare professionals on the registers are practising their

professions in Hong Kong. In the absence of the number of healthcare professionals who

actually practising their professions, the pool of potential healthcare professionals is

deduced by deducting the following from the total number of registered healthcare

professional:

(a) the “economically inactive” professions3 & 4; and

(b) the number of healthcare professionals who are working in the public sector (including

Hospital Authority and the Department of Health) and academic sector.

Enrolment and withdrawal of healthcare professionals

50. Medical practitioners accounted for the highest percentage of enrolled healthcare service provider (52.3%), followed by registered Chinese medicine practitioners (27.9%) and dentists (8.7%). The breakdown of enrolment and withdrawal by health profession as at 31 December 2010 is shown in Table 5.

3 The number of potential medical practitioners does not include the “economically inactive” medical practitioners. The projection of the “economically inactive” medical practitioners is based on the findings of the 2009 Health Manpower Survey on Doctors. “Economically inactive” medical practitioners refer to those who are practising overseas or practising in the Mainland or not practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong for reasons such as retired, undertaking study, engaging in household duties, working in other professions, etc.

4 The number of potential dentists does not include the “economically inactive” dentists. The projection of the “economically inactive” dentists is based on the findings of the 2009 Health Manpower Survey on Dentists. “Economically inactive” dentists refer to those who are practising overseas or practising in the Mainland or not practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong for reasons such as retired, undertaking study, engaging in household duties, working in other professions, etc.

Table 5: Enrolment and withdrawal by health profession as at 31 December 2010

Types of health professional

Number of enrolled healthcare service providers as at 1 Jan 2009

Number of newly enrolled healthcare service providers

Number of withdrawal

Number of healthcare service providers as at 31 Dec 2010

(1 Jan 2009 to 31 Dec 2010)

Medical Practitioner

989

566

122

1,431 (52.3%)*

Chinese Medicine Practitioner

462

335

34

762 (27.9%)#

Dentist

142

127

30

239 (8.7%)

Physiotherapist

129

69

9

189 (6.9%)

Registered Nurse

17

25

3

39 (1.4%)

Chiropractor

15

7

4

18 (0.7%)

Medical Laboratory Technologist

8

9

0

17 (0.6%)

Radiographer

8

8

0

16 (0.6%)

Occupational Therapist

9

10

0

19 (0.7%)

Enrolled Nurse

4

2

0

6 (0.2%)

Total

1,783

1,158

202

2,736 (100%)

Note: * excluding two Medical Practitioners delisted from the Scheme

# excluding one Chinese Medicine Practitioner delisted from the Scheme

51. There are about 2,900 newly enrolled healthcare service providers with 202 withdrawls as at 31 December 2010. Among the withdrawals, 107 healthcare service providers specified the reasons. The most common reason is due to a change in job of the enrolled healthcare service providers (Table 6).

Table 6: Reasons for withdrawal as at 31 December 2010

Reasons for withdrawal

Number of withdrawals

Change in job of the healthcare service providers

77 (72.0%)

Lack of computer facility and / or internet access

6 (5.6%)

Manpower constraint

4 (3.7%)

Other specified reasons

20 (18.7%)

Total

107 (100%)

“Other specified reasons” include reasons such as the design and operation of the Scheme

did not work in the organisation / clinic; service provider deceased; complicated login

procedure; high administration cost, etc.

(B) Statistics on the elderly

Number of elderly people joining the Scheme

52. In the first year of pilot period, a total of 277,200 eHealth accounts were created and 190,109 eHealth accounts made voucher claims as at 31 December 2009.

53. As at 31 December 2010, a total of 385,657 eHealth accounts (representing 57% of eligible elderly people5) were created and 300,292 eHealth accounts made voucher claims (representing 45% of eligible elderly people). The number of eligible elderly people who have registered with the Scheme has increased from 42% in end 2009 to 57% in end 2010. The number of eligible elderly people who have registered with the Scheme and made voucher claims has increased from 29% to 45% over the same period.

(C) Voucher utilization pattern

Number of eHealth accounts created

54. Among enrolled elderly people, 300,292 (78%) of them have made use of their vouchers (Figure 4).

5 According to the project of the Hong Kong elderly population by the Census and Statistics Department, the number of elderly persons aged 70 or above in Hong Kong in 2009 and 2010 is about 663,200 and 674,300 respectively.

Figure 4: Cumulative number of eHealth accounts created and accounts with claims made as at end of 31 December 2010

Figure 5: Number of eHealth accounts created by month

55. A steady number of accounts creation is observed after the launch of the Scheme, with an average of about 16,000 elderly people newly registering each month (Figure 5). During the eHealth account creation campaign launched by DH from October to mid‐December 2009, an upsurge in the number of accounts creation is noted.

56. Since October 2009, there has been a noticeable difference between the n