The Health Bureau today announced that the Community Pharmacy Programme patient pairing arrangement will launch by the end of October.
The first phase will be piloted across four districts – Eastern, Yau Tsim Mong, Sha Tin and Yuen Long – with five community pharmacies conveniently located near residential areas and shopping malls selected in each district.
Upon successful pairing, participating patients can obtain medications from their preferred pharmacy. Local pharmacists will provide medication counselling and health advice to enhance drug compliance and personal health management.
Drug refill services at these pharmacies will also help prevent excess drug accumulation at home, mitigating the risks of improper storage, misuse and potential wastage. Family doctors participating in the Primary Healthcare Co-care Network will be invited to join the programme in phases. Eligible patients will be invited to enrol, pair with a designated community pharmacy of their choice, and receive briefings on drug dispensing or refill arrangements.
The second phase of the programme will expand to the Southern, Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Tuen Mun, North and Tai Po districts. The services will be extended to all 18 districts across the city in the fourth quarter of next year, with more eligible pharmacies invited to join thereafter.
Co-payments for Co-care Network participants will follow the Community Drug Formulary, while drug fees for Hospital Authority (HA) patients will remain aligned with the HA’s prevailing fee schedule. Furthermore, the annually adjusted consultation co-payment fees for the screening and treatment phases, set by participating family doctors under the established mechanism, will take effect on November 1.
For the treatment phase, 1,022 out of the current 1,239 participating service points will keep their existing co-payment fees unchanged.
Conversely, 28 service points will reduce their fees by a median of $100, while the remaining 189 service points will increase their fees, with nearly 90% of those raising fees by $50 or below. Over 60% of the service points will charge at or below the Government-recommended level of $150.
For the medical screening phase, more than 97% of participating service points will align their fees with the Government-recommended co-payment levels. A small number of clinics will offer rates below the recommended level, including 28 service points for cardiovascular disease risk factor screening and 20 service points for chronic hepatitis B screening.
As of October 7, more than 300,000 citizens have enrolled in the Co-care Network. Among the participants who have completed screening, around 70,000 have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease risk factors and have entered the treatment phase.