To tackle the problems arising from the fast-growing aging population, gerontechnology is a possible solution in the eldercare sector to improve the quality of life for older people. In Hong Kong SAR, the government has already launched several policies and financial support to promote the procurement and deployment of gerontechnology. On top of that, the situation of its procurement needs to be first analyzed and compared with other places (e.g., mainland China and the UK), which makes a significant impact on its following application. Unlike the traditional price-based or cost-effectiveness procurement approach, the value-based approach shifts the attention from budget to pathway costs and benefits for more stakeholders under the patient-centered principle, which is more suitable to...[ Read more ]

To tackle the problems arising from the fast-growing aging population, gerontechnology is a possible solution in the eldercare sector to improve the quality of life for older people. In Hong Kong SAR, the government has already launched several policies and financial support to promote the procurement and deployment of gerontechnology. On top of that, the situation of its procurement needs to be first analyzed and compared with other places (e.g., mainland China and the UK), which makes a significant impact on its following application. Unlike the traditional price-based or cost-effectiveness procurement approach, the value-based approach shifts the attention from budget to pathway costs and benefits for more stakeholders under the patient-centered principle, which is more suitable to be used in the long-term care sector. As a result, this study focuses on the procurement procedures of gerontechnology in nursing homes in HKSAR, which is currently under-researched. A qualitative method was used in this study to collect data through semi-structured interviews with five participants, including government officials and nursing home managers. The collected data was transcribed using intelligent verbatim, coded inductively in MAXQDA, and summarized deductively under the framework of qualitative content analysis, repeatedly, to increase the density of practical information. After data analysis, this study finds out a value-based procurement approach currently has been used to a certain extent in elderly care institutions for gerontechnology. Additionally, the findings also include the considerations common for all stakeholders, the ones specific to certain stakeholders during this decision-making process, and supportive actions to promote the adoption of a value-based procurement approach and the deployment of gerontech products. Based on these results, there is a clear and broad picture to pursue the value-based procurement approach at a maturity level for gerontechnology in public elderly care institutions in Hong Kong SAR, through the consideration for patients and more stakeholders to enlarge the outcomes for individuals, organizations, and society.

Keywords: Gerontechnology; Value-based procurement; Eldercare; Hong Kong SAR