Macau has a large flow of local medical patients and long waiting times, and precisely because of the mature policy of medical interconnection between the two places, we can enjoy high-level and efficient medical services nearby in mainland China, making our medical treatment more reassuring and confident, "said Chen Jinda, a resident of Macau.
The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area advocates "shaping a healthy bay area", clearly stating the promotion of interconnectivity of high-quality medical and health resources among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and close cooperation in promoting close cooperation in high-quality medical and health resources, medical and health talent training and exchange, and cross-border patient transportation. The integration of healthcare in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, with the blueprint of "Healthy Bay Area", is accelerating.
Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have different public health systems, with varying characteristics in resource distribution, strengths, and weaknesses. Hong Kong has a high level of medical technology and numerous cutting-edge medical research technologies that urgently need to be transformed, but the aging population is evident; Macao has advantages in fine management of medical and health care, but due to its small geographical area, the time for patients to seek medical treatment is slow; Guangdong has rich clinical resources and human resources. "Internet plus Health Care" is in the forefront, and scientific and technological innovation is developing rapidly, but some issues are not compatible with Hong Kong and Macao.
The key to achieving breakthroughs in medical cooperation in the Greater Bay Area lies in connecting the "Ren Du Er Mai" of cross-border resource flow, and realizing the effect of 1+1+1>3.
On February 14, 2025, a 79 year old Hong Kong resident with atrial fibrillation and concurrent pneumonia was transported from the Earl of Yan General Hospital in Macau to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong through the "Greater Bay Area Cross border Direct Ambulance Trial Scheme". This is the first time since the implementation of the pilot program that patients have been transported from Macau to Hong Kong for treatment.
The original intention of this plan is to use a "point-to-point" transportation mechanism, allowing critically ill patients in the Greater Bay Area to directly reach designated hospitals in Hong Kong without transferring at ports, greatly reducing the risk of patient treatment. At the end of March this year, the "Greater Bay Area Cross border Direct Ambulance Pilot Program" officially launched a two-way transfer arrangement between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Macau, marking a new stage of two-way communication for cross-border ambulance services from the previous one-way transfer.

The Secretary for Medical and Health Services of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Lu Chongmao, stated that this is an important milestone in achieving high-quality medical and health cooperation in the Greater Bay Area and promoting the high-quality development of the "Healthy Bay Area".

The "Hong Kong Macau Medical Device Connect" policy is another landmark achievement of deepening cross-border medical cooperation innovation. Formally implemented on August 27, 2021, it allows designated medical institutions in the mainland of the Greater Bay Area to use urgently needed drugs and medical devices that have been approved for sale in Hong Kong and Macao, covering the full process management of procurement, customs clearance, storage, and distribution, providing convenience for medication and medical devices for Hong Kong and Macao compatriots and social patients in the Greater Bay Area. According to data from the Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Industry Association, as of the first half of this year, the "Hong Kong Macau Medical Device Connect" has achieved full coverage in 71 designated medical institutions in 9 cities in the Greater Bay Area, and has introduced a total of 177 clinical urgently needed imported Hong Kong Macau medical devices.

As the first hospital in China to pilot the "Hong Kong Macau Medical Device Connect" program, the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital has been approved to use urgently needed international medical devices to benefit over 8000 patients. Hospital Party Secretary Xu Xiaoping stated that in order to strengthen the coordinated development and governance of healthcare, medical insurance, and medicine in the Greater Bay Area, and to promote medical integration, it is recommended to include more varieties of Hong Kong and Macau medical devices in the basic medical insurance and major illness supplementary insurance, benefiting more patients.

In recent years, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have jointly launched the "Greater Bay Area Medical Talent Exchange Program", dispatching medical personnel to provide on-site services to Hong Kong and Macao patients in public hospitals, and strengthening communication and cooperation in clinical practice.

As one of the first medical personnel to go to Hong Kong for this program, Yang Shifang, Deputy Director of the Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Department of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, conducted minimally invasive surgery with local colleagues at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong to treat refractory pneumothorax patients. She said that the exchange of medical talents in the Greater Bay Area has enabled healthcare professionals from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau to progress together.
As of now, Guangdong has dispatched over 200 medical personnel to participate in the program. Personnel exchange is not only about sending out, but also about bringing in. In terms of mutual recognition of medical qualifications, Shenzhen has taken the lead in exploring and breaking down the barriers between the qualifications of doctors in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It has carried out the professional title recognition of overseas medical professionals, optimized the registration of Hong Kong and Macao doctors practicing in Shenzhen, and established a recognition and conversion mechanism that is in line with the current senior professional title evaluation in mainland China for Hong Kong specialist doctors.
At present, Shenzhen has issued senior professional title certificates to 37 Hong Kong doctors working in Shenzhen, and Bai Mingzhu is one of them. Due to the lack of corresponding professional title recognition, it used to be difficult for Hong Kong doctors to apply for research projects in mainland China. Now, with the introduction of senior professional titles, not only can this problem be solved, but doctors can also be more standardized in surgical authorization, doctor training, and other aspects, "said Bai Mingzhu.

At the 3rd Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Health Cooperation Conference, Lu Chongmao stated that the Hong Kong SAR government will actively explore cross-border data exchange and medical innovation to support the construction of a healthy bay area.
Cross border data flow was once a challenge faced by the integration of the three regions. With the patient's consent, we are now transferring electronic medical records from Hong Kong to the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital in a point-to-point manner, which is a breakthrough. Lu Chongmao introduced that the pilot sharing of medical records in the Greater Bay Area is very important for the quality of medical care, especially for elderly patients with chronic diseases who may be taking multiple medications at the same time. If the visiting doctors do not know which medications they are taking at the same time, the quality of medical care will be affected.

Hong Kong people going north for medical treatment and elderly care, promoting cross-border connection of medical services; Guangdong Hong Kong cooperation aims to establish a scientific research and transformation platform based on the "Hong Kong R&D, Bay Area Transformation" model, accelerating the construction of an "innovation community" in the medical field; The Guangdong Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park is steadily promoting the construction of "eight major centers" such as the Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Characteristic Diagnosis and Treatment Center and the High end Health Care Center, and is committed to becoming an international and high-level medical and health industry park with distinctive characteristics... The three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao are using policy coordination, cross-border cooperation, and technological breakthroughs as engines to continuously create a high-quality and efficient health service system, providing a "bay area sample" for regional and even global medical cooperation.

Benefiting from the accelerated integration of healthcare in the Greater Bay Area, the number of Macau residents seeking medical treatment in the north has significantly increased.

Chen Jinda's father-in-law was diagnosed with stage III lung cancer. After comprehensive evaluation by his family, he chose to seek medical treatment at a tertiary hospital in Zhuhai. From admission examination and comprehensive screening, to expert consultation and determination of a complete treatment plan, the entire process only took 5 days. For critically ill elderly people, being diagnosed and treated one day earlier is like having more vitality and hope, "he said. As a native of Macau, he truly feels the huge advantages of medical connectivity and two-way protection between mainland China and Macau, and deeply understands the real institutional dividends that the construction of the" Healthy Bay Area "brings to residents. (Outlook New Era)