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3.1.3 DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEALTH FINANCING
POLICIES TO ENGAGE THE PRIVATE SECTOR

As presented in the last section, engaging the private sector to achieve health system goals
has been on the top of the Government’s policy agenda after several rounds of health reform
discussions. There are three main policies implemented in the recent decade: purchasing
of private services through various public-private partnership (PPP)
programmes, the regulation of private hospitals, and the introduction of
the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS).

PPPs–Public purchasing of private services
The main initiative of the Government in engaging the private sector is the introduction of
various PPP programmes (Box 3.2). PPPs in Hong Kong is a vehicle for purchasing private
services by the Government. They are intended to enhance access to care, offer more
choices of providers, and relieve stress on the public sector. More details of PPP
programmes will be presented in the next section 3.1.4.

Box 3.2

PPP as defined in the “Your Health, Your Life”
consultation document

PPP is defined by the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) as the “collaboration
between the public and private sectors to provide healthcare infrastructure or
services”.

PPPs, as examples of purchasing in Hong Kong, were intended to engender
the following benefits:

• Offer greater choice of services for individuals;
• Promote healthy competition and collaboration among healthcare
providers;
• Make better use of resources in both the public and private sectors;
• Benchmark the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of healthcare services;
and
• Facilitate cross-fertilisation of expertise and experience between medical
professionals.

Source: FHB, 2008b

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