HA To Expand Remote Consultation Services

The Hospital Authority (HA) has said it will continue to expand its remote consultation services this year after public acceptance of telehealth grew during the pandemic.

The HA said it had given more than 200,000 remote consultations over the past year, and that it plans to expand its services to cover more patients, including those aged under 18.

Eligible patients can make appointments and seek advice from doctors via the HA Go app, without having to visit hospitals or clinics in person.

Dr Larry Lee, a chief manager with the Hospital Authority, said expanding such services would be of benefit to the public.

"We have plans to promote, especially to serve those patients [for whom it is] inconvenient to attend the sessions in person, including the patients who are homebound, old-age home residents, those living in remote areas, as well as people who are in correctional service premises," he said.

Lee declined to give a timeline for the expansion of the service, however.

He added that tele-training trial runs had been introduced in April at psychiatric out-patient clinics, with online classes being offered to patients.

Telehealth is one of the topics that will be discussed at the HA Convention next week, with over 6,700 healthcare professionals set to participate.