The medical records of eight million patients are already being accessed electronically by 30,000 health-care workers via the Hospital Authority network.
Around 69,000 patients are electronically linked with 1,600 private doctors.
However, the public and private sectors have yet to be linked, Chow said.
The use of the smart ID card would achieve that end.
Chow outlined the government's vision of an e-health system at yesterday's opening of the two-day e-Health Forum at the Academy of Medicine in Aberdeen.
"We are trying to use the Hong Kong ID card as an authorizing vehicle for any individual who would like to authorize the use of the medical records by their health-care providers," he said.
"We will start piloting next year, perhaps in certain areas, but the whole system will not be in place until 2013."
Public consultation would also be conducted next year on safeguarding the privacy of personal data.
The authority launched its computerized clinical management system in 1994, expanding it to cover the whole range of services offered by public hospitals and specialist clinics.
The system now contains more than eight million patients' records and is used by 30,000 health-care workers "on a day-to-day basis," Chow said.
"The health-care provider of any patient who walks into any public hospital or clinic in the territory will be able to access to his medical records," he said.
In July, the Legislative Council approved US$90 million (HK$700 million) capital expenditure for a government-led electronic health record system for the next five years.
The goal is to have an e-sharing system by 2013.
"This e-health enhances the quality of patient care and lowers the cost of health-care services," Chow said.
He added that a territory-wide system would serve as "a fundamental infrastructure underpinning health care transformation, removing the boundaries between different health-care professions providing different levels of care in different sectors."
"Also, e-HR (electronic health record system) reduces errors and unplanned admissions.
"It saves documentation time for medical professionals, which will in turn enhance the efficiency and quality of health care to patients."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Mary Ann Benitez
Quelle/Source: The Standard, 09.10.2009
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