Hongkongers may get option for digital advance directives, according to government proposal, with advocacy groups touting eHealth platform as database
- Bill submitted to Legislative Council indicates government considering use of electronic directives for end-of-life treatment, in addition to regular paper format
- Advocacy groups and elderly care sector welcome move, saying current eHealth data platform can be used to store documents to avoid creating additional systems
Hongkongers may get the option to give legal instructions electronically to reject certain medications in end-of-life treatment, according to a government proposal, with advocacy and sector groups saying an existing platform can be used to store the information.
Grace Li Fai, an executive committee member of the Elderly Services Association, was among those on Thursday responding to a bill on advance directives introduced by authorities the day before. She said the government could use the city’s eHealth data platform to store digital versions of the documents floated in the proposal.
“In the current system, information such as identity card numbers and medical records are already [on the eHealth platform], shouldn’t we consider a shared use of resources?” Li said.
Advance directives are medical documents that allow patients to choose what medical treatments they wish to refuse when they are dying.
The new bill presented to the Legislative Council, which aims to give more legal power to the directives, will be gazetted on Friday, followed by a first reading on December 6.
In the proposal, authorities said they were exploring the use of electronic advance directives, in addition to the current practice of ones in paper format.
Digital storage of the document in an “electronic system designated by the Secretary for Health” would also be provided, but no platform was named. Scanned and digitised copies of the hard-copy directives would also be stored in the system.
