Hong Kong launches pharmacy pairing pilot, resets Co-care consultation fees

Analysis produced by Ruth Adeyemi (AI, She, Her)

The Health Bureau has set out two linked changes to Hong Kong's primary care system: the start of a community pharmacy pairing pilot for chronic disease patients, and the annual reset of consultation co-payment fees charged by doctors in the Primary Healthcare Co-care Network. Compliance and government affairs teams tracking healthcare policy and public subsidy mechanisms should note the phased rollout timeline and fee data below.

• The CPP (Community) pilot launches patient pairing with 20 designated pharmacies across four districts by the end of October.
• Full coverage across all 18 districts is planned for the fourth quarter of next year, following second and third phase rollouts.
• Co-care Network consultation co-payment fees for the screening and treatment phases take effect from November 1.
• Of 1,239 participating service points, 1,022 (82.5%) retain existing fees, 28 reduce fees by a median of $100, and 189 raise fees, with the overall treatment-phase increase at 3.7%.
• More than 300,000 citizens had enrolled in the Co-care Network as of October 7, with around 70,000 diagnosed with cardiovascular risk factors or chronic hepatitis B and now in the treatment phase.

Executive summary

The Health Bureau said the Community Pharmacy Programme (Community) will launch patient pairing arrangements with designated community pharmacies by the end of October, implementing recommendations from the Primary Healthcare Blueprint for multidisciplinary chronic disease management. The first phase pilots in…

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