“BookHA” mobile app extended to more specialties

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The mobile application "BookHA", launched by the Hospital Authority (HA) to provide new case booking services for Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOPCs), has been further extended to cover Clinical Oncology and Anaesthesiology (Pain Clinic) for the convenience of patients from today (December 3).
 
     The HA spokesperson said that from now on patients can make SOPC new case booking in Gynaecology; Ear, Nose and Throat; Eye; Neurosurgery; Orthopaedics and Traumatology; Medicine; Surgery; Cardiothoracic Surgery; Obstetrics; Paediatrics; Clinical Oncology; and Anaesthesiology (Pain Clinic) through "BookHA" anywhere, anytime, instead of going to the clinics in person or sending in applications by facsimile.
 
     "As at the end of October, more than 330,000 app downloads have been recorded since the launch of 'BookHA' in March 2016. Appointments have been arranged for over 120,000 patients among some 160,000 applications. The operations for SOPCs to triage and process the requests have been smooth so far," the spokesperson remarked.
 
     Generally, consultation will be arranged at the earliest for patients triaged as urgent. At present, the median waiting time is within two weeks. To further ensure that urgent patients receive notifications in time, the clinic will also notify the patient by telephone in addition to short message service (SMS) text message notification. Other patients who are triaged as stable will receive an SMS notification within 14 days.
 
     Patients who have booked an SOPC appointment through the app will receive a pop-up reminder of the appointment with the registered smartphone. If the patients no longer need to attend the scheduled appointment booked earlier via the app, they can make use of the "Booking Cancellation" function to cancel the appointment instead of calling the clinic.
 
     The spokesperson reminded patients that referral letters within three months of issue from local registered doctors are required for making new case booking at public SOPCs. Most referral letters issued by the HA carry a 2D barcode which can be scanned with the built-in function of the app, saving time on photo-taking and uploading images of referral letters page by page.
 
     "BookHA" can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store (supporting iOS version 8.0 or above) or Google Play (supporting Android version 4.1 or above) and it is available in traditional Chinese and English.