Hong Kong – Government worries that telehealth services must be offered by certified health care experts in accordance with expert standards

Relating To the Consumer Council’s research study findings on “Enhancing Governance in Telehealth: Fostering Consumer Trust and Innovation”the Health Bureau today (August 20) mentioned that to guarantee health care quality and security and to protect resident’s health, the Government’s enduring position is that any sort of medical service (consisting of in-person assessments or telehealth services) must be supplied by certified health care specialists, whose shipment is governed by the regulative boards and councils of pertinent health care occupations. Such health care experts bear expert obligation and should act in the interest of clients. Their requirement of practice need to not be jeopardized based upon the service mode (whether by methods of in-person assessments or telehealth services).

Presently, the Medical Council of Hong Kong and the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board under the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong have actually currently promoted standards for the telehealth practice (see Annexes), covering functional problems such as developing a doctor-patient relationship, assessing clients’ viability for telehealth services, getting notified permission and securing client personal privacy.

Telehealth services permit residents to gain access to health care services without leaving their homes; nevertheless, they might not appropriate for all circumstances especially when clients might require on-site scientific evaluations for precise medical diagnosis and treatment. This includes the expert judgment of health care experts. The Government will make sure that the boards and councils of different health care occupations would create and upgrade particular telehealth standards in a prompt way based upon their expert practice and functional requirements, with a view to securing the interests of clients and health care specialists. When looking for medical services, members of the general public ought to establish that the company is a competent health care expert to protect their own security and interests. In case of grievances versus the telehealth services supplied by health care specialists, the general public might get in touch with the regulative boards and councils of pertinent health care occupations.