The difference between healthcare systems in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Kudos Health conducts market research and data collection all across the world. We regularly interview professionals in Asia and in particularly in China and Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was under British control until the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997. Hong Kong still maintains a separate political and economic system from China and is one of the world’s most significant financial centres.
Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, Mandarin is an official language along with Cantonese and English. Mandarin is used more and more in Hong Kong but Cantonese and English are still predominant languages. Our team contacting respondents in Hong Kong speaks native Cantonese and English and our team interviewing respondentsin mainland China speaks Mandarin.
Healthcare systems in Hong Kong and mainland China are very different.
According to a recent report*1 of the Food and Health Bureau of HKSAR Government, at the end of 2016, there are over 99 000 healthcare professionals from the 13 professions which are subject to statutory registration, including Doctors, Pharmacists, Registered Nurses, etc.
Healthcare professionals in Hong Kong are much more accessible for interviewing in market research than healthcare professionals in China.
*1 http://www.hpdo.gov.hk/tc/index.html
Most of the healthcare workers work in hospitals and in China, most hospitals are run by the government. Since 1989, these hospitals are graded every 3 years into 3-tiers and 10 levels in order to reflect the hospitals’ sizes and abilities.
Primary hospitals are those with 21-99 beds and more than 0.7 healthcare professions per bed; they provide preventive care, minimal care and rehabilitation services.
Secondary hospitals contain 100-499 beds with more than 0.88 healthcare professions per bed. They are responsible for providing comprehensive health services, as well as medical education and conducting research on a regional basis.
Tertiary hospitals have more than 500 beds and more than 1.03 healthcare professions per bed. They are responsible for providing specialist health services, medical education and scientific research and they serve as medical hubs providing care to multiple regions
These 3 grades are further subdivided into 3 subsidiary levels: A, B and C (甲[jiǎ], 乙[yǐ], 丙[bǐng]） based on their management, equipment and management. In addition, one special level - 3AAA is reserved for the most specialized hospitals
The charges of medical service are based on the grading and the percentage of the medical insurance reclaimed varies with different grades of the hospital.
End of part 1. Part 2 will be posted soon. Please check our Tweets for updates. @Kudos_Health
Thank you to Yat Yu Penelope Lam for contributing to this blog! Yat Yu is a Chinese Medicine Partitioner from Hong Kong currently living in London/UK.
