Advertisement
Advertisement
Letters | Hong Kong private hospitals offering fixed-price plans will help cut waiting times for public medical services
I am writing in response to the article “New hospital to introduce more fixed-price plans” (December 3). Gleneagles Hospital plans to extend its all-inclusive fixed-price packages to cover more medical conditions and complex surgeries, to ease patients’ fears over paying extra for complications, while the CUHK Medical Centre – set to open in 2020 – has committed to price-packaging all its services.
As Hong Kong’s population ages, there has been a rise in the number of patients in public hospitals. The reason many people hesitate to go to private hospitals is because they cannot predict the costs of treatment. Making the prices of services clear at the outset will allay these fears.
Private hospitals aren’t giving their patients important price details, review finds
This move by private hospitals will help shorten the wait for public hospital services, by attracting more middle-class and affluent patients. Overall, people in Hong Kong will have more health care choices.
Last but not least, fixed-price plans may be conducive to Hongkongers’ quality of life, by enabling them to avail of treatment as soon as possible and to use their time more effectively than queuing up at emergency rooms.
Jane Cai, Tseung Kwan O
Post