Keynote 1: The Regulated and Evidence-Based Approach to Integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Public Healthcare System – The Hong Kong Experience and Challenges

Keynote 1: The Regulated and Evidence-Based Approach to Integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Public Healthcare System – The Hong Kong Experience and Challenges

Date: 12 July 2025, Sunday | Time: 0845 - 0915 | Venue: The NAK Auditorium, Academia 

Co-Chairs: Dr LIM Shih Hui (Singhealth & NNI) & Dr GOH Kia Seng (ACMS)

Speaker: Prof BIAN Zhaoxiang, Hospital Chief Executive, Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong

Renowned for maintaining the world's highest life expectancy for over a decade, Hong Kong has long operated a public healthcare system primarily grounded in Western medicine, with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) serving a supplementary role in outpatient care. Over the past thirty years, however, this landscape has progressively transitioned from the parallel practice of Chinese and Western medicine toward a model of regulated, collaborative integration. Key milestones—including the statutory registration of TCM practitioners, the establishment of university-based TCM professional education, the development of a territory-wide TCM clinic network, and the introduction of integrated Chinese and Western medicine services in public hospitals—have collectively laid a robust foundation for the establishment of The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK).

As the flagship Chinese medicine institution in Hong Kong and the dedicated CM teaching hospital for three local universities, CMHHK integrates clinical care, research, and education across outpatient, day-patient, and inpatient services through three delivery models: Pure Chinese Medicine, Chinese Medicine-Dominant, and Integrated Chinese–Western Medicine. This integration is underpinned by evidence-based governance — encompassing professional regulation, practitioner credentialing and privileging, and protocol-driven treatment pathways for specialized disease programmes.

This presentation outlines the development of TCM within Hong Kong's public healthcare system and the operational model of CMHHK, examines the challenges encountered in clinical integration and hospital operations, and articulates a forward-looking vision to share CMHHK's experience and advance the international standing of TCM.