Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau CSM, Chau CSK, Lau YK, Chan HKC, Tong ELH, Wong EY, Wong WN, Cheung NT
Affiliation :
Health Informatics Department, Information Technology and Health Informatics Division, Head Office, Hospital Authority
Introduction :
District Health Centre (DHC) is a brand new healthcare service model to provide integrated primary healthcare to the public through a network of healthcare professionals (HCProfs) in both public and private sectors. Community rehabilitation is one of the DHC services where patients of hip fracture, post-acute myocardial infarction and stroke discharged from Hospital Authority (HA) are referred to DHC for multi-disciplinary rehabilitation such as Chinese medicine, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy and dietetic services in community.
Objectives :
With the development of territory-wide Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS), DHC scheme utilises eHRSS to facilitate accurate sharing of clinical records and efficient service communication amongst HCProfs in HA, DHC and private sectors.
Methodology :
Discharge summary and medication history of a HA patient after hospitalization shared in eHRSS can be viewed by HCProfs working in DHC who are responsible for providing rehabilitation services to the patient. The other way around, rehabilitation progress notes and relevant health data of the patient contributed by different HCProfs during community rehabilitation can be easily linked and communicated with HA through eHRSS.
Result & Outcome :
As of November 2021, over 29,000 eligible residents registered as DHC members. 258 HA patients were referred to DHC for community rehabilitation services.
DHC leverages on the well-established records sharing platform in eHRSS, resulting in connecting a multitude of HA and community partners to collaboratively provide healthcare services to district residents. HCProfs of HA and DHC do not have to repeatedly ask patients for the needed information. eHRSS supports provision of more holistic, seamless and tailored healthcare to the patients in HA and DHC follow-up sessions.
eHRSS has an indispensable role to play in connecting DHC with HA and a network of private HCProfs to deliver targeted, patient-oriented primary healthcare services in the community. eHRSS contributes to enhance the continuity of patient care, facilitate the best use of our healthcare resources, and support the provision of collaborative and efficient healthcare in Hong Kong.
