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South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Cheaper drugs, revamped fees are healthy steps for Hong Kong
The accessible and affordable world-class public health system Hong Kong enjoys – and expects – comes at an ever-increasing price, amid an ageing society and the rising costs of medical and pharmaceutical advances. A revamp of the fee structure from next year, to recover more of the spiralling costs to the government's budget, was inevitable. Rightly, it is subject to measures to safeguard access for the most vulnerable members of society. It is good, therefore, to learn the government is going on the front foot in negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to get the best deals for many of the drugs that public patients need and the best value for the massive public investment in healthcare. As a result, patients can soon expect to pay about 20 per cent less for some drugs. Hospital Authority chief executive Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing anticipates savings to public funds of at least HK$1 billion (US$127 million) from measures including drug price reductions and expansion of sources of supplies. This is thanks in large part to a greater emphasis on a thorough procurement process. The Hospital Authority's chief pharmacist, William Chui Chun-ming, says when hospital drugs are reasonably priced, the authority can use the money saved to buy more new drugs or extend the range in stock. So far, he says, 70 per cent of drug makers, mostly from foreign countries, are willing to give discounts of an average of 20 per cent. The authority's negotiators used as a reference drug prices offered under the mainland's medical insurance system, which are generally lower due to the bargaining power of bulk procurement for a huge population. Beijing said last year that this had saved patients more than 880 billion yuan (US$123 billion). The potential for cost-effective optimisation of access to the latest pharmaceutical drugs will be enhanced by Hong Kong's aspiration to become an international medical and innovation hub, including a recognised clinical drug-trial centre. Chui said the authority would also monitor drugs in phase three clinical trials and approach developers for access to data with a view to adoption in public hospitals soon.
RTHK
21-07-2025
- Business
- RTHK
HA to slash costs by $1bn in efficiency drive
HA to slash costs by $1bn in efficiency drive HA Chief Executive Tony Ko (centre) says measures have been taken in various departments to compress costs and reduce staff workload. Photo: RTHK The Hospital Authority (HA) said a series of measures it has undertaken to streamline workflow and its procurement system could translate into savings of HK$1 billion, while patients would benefit through cheaper and a wider choice of medications. In a press briefing, the authority's chief pharmacist William Chui said a cost assessment panel set up to negotiate with pharmaceutical firms has paid dividends. 'We would negotiate the price based on scientific research and advice by medical economists,' he said, adding they would take reference from prices on the mainland. As a result, Chui revealed that seven out of 10 suppliers have agreed to lower drug prices, with an average reduction of 20 percent. HA Chief Executive Tony Ko, meanwhile, gave updates on the use of artificial intelligence tools to enhance efficiency and ease the workload of frontline staff. He pointed to a Smart Antibiotic Stewardship Programme which can automatically identify potentially inappropriate use of antibiotics through protocol-driven algorithm. Officially rolled out in January 2024, Ko said the tool saved time and effort as medics no longer had to comb through different databases to obtain patients' records. 'In the past, before we have this AI initiative, we need the expert colleagues, for example, our infectious disease expert or microbiology expert, to look into the various laboratory results to check the patient's conditions…before you decide whether you need to change antibiotics,' Ko said. 'We developed our own clinical management system for almost 30 years, and all the data are within our systems. Instead of asking people to do it manually, to check whether a certain patient still needed a certain broad-spectrum antibiotic, now it's all in the system and automated.' The HA has also been using automated tools to tackle the large number of medical and discharge reports, with around 100,000 such requests received annually. Ko said 80 percent of these reports can be generated by AI, reducing the time staff typically spent on this task by 40 percent, and their workload by one-third. Every report will be manually verified to ensure accuracy, he added, while complex cases still have to be handled entirely by physicians.
