A bill that could be passed in Hong Kong later this year – the Private Healthcare Facilities Bill – could give greater visibility on pricing for private hospitals services. The Harbour Times writes the bill would bring together 19 regulatory aspects, covering corporate governance, standard of facilities, clinical quality, price transparency and sanctions as essential regulatory requirements for private hospitals.
Previously, in October 2016, a pilot program to enhance price transparency for private hospitals was undertaken by the Food and Health Bureau. The pilot program covers three price transparency measures, namely the provision of budget estimates, publication of fee schedules and publication of historical bill size statistics. Hong Kong’s private hospitals agreed to start providing bill estimates for 24 common surgical procedures while the Bureau launched a website for the public to have easy access to historical bill sizes for specific treatments and procedures provided by participating hospitals. However, the budget estimates and bill size statistics serve only as a reference and not the final prices patients will be paying. Subject to the passage of the Bill by the Legislative Council later this year, The Food and Health Bureau would work out the details of the price transparency measures based on the experience gained during the pilot program.
Read more:
- Harbour Times: http://harbourtimes.com/2018/08/16/show-prices-increasing-visibility-hospital-fees-relieve-pressure-public-health-services/
- Private Healthcare Facilities Bill: https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr16-17/english/bills/brief/b201706161_brf.pdf