One week after Hong Kong's public hospitals introduced a new A&E pricing regime on January 1, visits fell 11.9% to 32,147 patients across 18 departments compared to last year, while fee waivers tripled. A Hospital Authority spokesman said the changes enable better focus on true emergencies.
One week after the Hospital Authority rolled out a new pricing regime on January 1—aimed at charging higher fees for milder, affordable cases to bolster public healthcare sustainability—A&E attendance dropped sharply.
From January 1 to 7, 32,147 patients visited the 18 A&Es, down 11.9% from the prior year. The number benefiting from fee waivers tripled under the reform.
"The service data of the past week shows that the fees and charges reform allowed A&Es to perform their emergency care function more effectively," a spokesman said. "A&Es can better concentrate resources, treat patients with urgent medical needs more effectively and improve treatment efficiency for urgent cases."
The changes address systemic pressures, including an ageing population and HK$3 billion in annual public hospital expenditures, by steering non-urgent cases to alternative services.