National Health Information Management/Information Technology Strategies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore

A national health information management/information technology (IM/IT) strategy is crucially important for a country in planning and implementing healthcare priorities. However, little comparative research has been performed in this area, especially in Asian countries. This paper reviews, assesses and compares the healthcare systems, as well as the national health IM/IT initiatives and strategies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Although the proportion of public and private health services, IT infrastructure development, and government involvement in these three jurisdictions are different, they experience similar challenges with limited resources. By outlining the approaches being taken in the three Asian jurisdictions, this paper provides comparison, evaluation and insights that may be useful to other jurisdictions.