With a budget deficit, Hong Kong needs to optimise healthcare spending
- Officials need to reimagine healthcare financing by focusing on strategic purchasing
- This approach is about more than just saving money; it is a resource allocation philosophy that demands thoughtful procurement decisions and which can boost primary healthcare
Strategic purchasing requires the government to consider the capacity of both the public and private sectors to allocate resources more effectively. This can help ensure the sustainability of healthcare services. As a tool, it can aid development of primary healthcare.
Investing in primary healthcare is crucial, as chronic diseases and complications arising from them could pose an increasingly heavy burden on our healthcare system. The cost of managing diabetes alone from 2022-2051 could be up to HK$45 billion (US$5.7 billion). But effective diabetes screening and management could save 28 per cent on direct medical costs over the next 30 years.
By focusing on prevention and early intervention at the primary level, we can reduce demand for healthcare at source, resulting in significant savings.
Within two months, more than 17,300 people have joined the scheme, with nearly one in 10 diagnosed with diabetes or hypertension, requiring community teams to follow up.
For the scheme to flourish, a two-way feedback mechanism involving healthcare practitioners and patients is indispensable. Regular feedback will help refine and improve the programme. A thorough analysis of cost-effectiveness can also show the long-term financial prudence of such preventive care strategies.
By using the knowledge gained from the scheme, the government can enhance and promote strategic purchasing, which should become the blood running through the veins of the healthcare system.
This could shift some of the care burden from hospitalisation to early intervention and ensure people who need psychological or psychiatric support receive timely help in their local communities.
By widely implementing strategic purchasing, the government can better establish public-private partnership programmes to craft a more cost-effective and robust healthcare system. We need a mindset shift to start seeing resources invested in primary healthcare as a judicious investment rather than a draining cost.
Hong Kong needs to acknowledge the need to reimagine healthcare financing. By harnessing the wisdom of strategic purchasing, we can build a healthcare system that delivers cost-effective and optimal outcomes while safeguarding the health and prosperity of our community for a thriving, resilient future.
Dicky Chow is head of healthcare and social innovation at Our Hong Kong Foundation
Dorothy Yeung is an assistant researcher at Our Hong Kong Foundation