The Government today announced that the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (Amendment) Bill 2025, which seeks to refine the legal framework around the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHealth), will be published on Friday.
The bill proposes to amend the existing Electronic Health Record Sharing System Ordinance by enhancing the mechanism for data collection, sharing, usage and protection, in tandem with the Government’s “eHealth+” five-year development plan.
The bill will provide a legal framework for establishing a comprehensive personal electronic health record (eHR) for citizens. This includes streamlining the consent mechanism.
The Secretary for Health will be empowered to require specified healthcare providers (HCPs) to deposit specified health data into personal eHealth accounts. These arrangements will make it easier for citizens to obtain their records from HCPs and enhance service efficiency.
To support the development of primary healthcare services provided by multi-disciplinary teams, the bill will expand the categories of healthcare professionals (HCProfs) who, with citizens’ consent, can access their health data on eHealth.
In addition to the existing 13 types of HCProfs subject to statutory registration, HCProfs registered with professional bodies under the Department of Health’s Accredited Registers Scheme for Healthcare Professions, and other specified HCProfs who provide healthcare in facilities controlled or managed by the Government and the Hospital Authority, will also be included.
The Government emphasised that compared to using paper documents, electronic medical documents are more convenient and less likely to get lost.
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The bill will provide a clear legal framework with respect to electronic medical documents issued or authenticated through eHealth. This includes enabling the Government to designate eHealth as the only platform for the issuance of certain medical documents where appropriate.
To support citizens, the bill also includes provisions on the recognition of individual HCPs and public health record systems outside of Hong Kong, subject to data privacy and system security protections, and in compliance with specified requirements and conditions.
HCPs outside of Hong Kong will only be able access eHealth records when a registered citizen provides explicit consent for this to happen. Under no other circumstances will eHealth records be transmitted across the boundary.
In addition, the bill will specify that certain relations of citizens, including parents of minors, as well as authorised caregivers, may provide and obtain eHealth records on a citizen’s behalf.
The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for a first reading on March 26.
