A research project proposal led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has been awarded funding approval from the Research Grant Council (RGC) with a grant worth HK$20.45 million in the fourth round exercise of the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS).

The project "Delivering 21st Century Healthcare in Hong Kong – Building a Quality-and-Efficiency Driven System" aims to provide a better local healthcare management system at an affordable cost. The investigation will focus on two areas: hospital resource planning and healthcare data analytics.

“The goal of the project is to identify and address the local healthcare management issues,” said Professor Frank Chen Youhua, Head of CityU’s Department of Management Sciences and the project coordinator.  “The research project is the first of its kind to study healthcare delivery related issues in Hong Kong.”

The cross-disciplinary team led by CityU is a collaboration with researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong and Columbia University in the US, among others.

The project will set up a healthcare operations management field of study in Hong Kong, promoting innovation and quality of service in healthcare delivery as well as stimulating the synergistic collaborations among researchers in management science, systems engineering, and public health.

The CityU research team comprises members from the College of Business including: Professor Chen (Project Coordinator), Dr Hu Qiaohai (Co-Investigator), Professor Hui Yer-van (C-I), Professor Kim Jeong-bon (C-I), Professor Lai Kin-keung (Co-Principal Investigator), Dr Li Yanzhi (C-I), Dr Carrie Lin Ka-yuk (C-I),  Professor Yan Houmin (C-PI), Professor Kelvin Yau Kai-wing (C-PI), Dr Yu Yimin (C-I), and Professor Leon Zhao Jianliang (C-I). It also has members from the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management: Dr Chin Kwai-sang (C-PI), Professor Nozer Singpurwalla (C-I), Professor Tsui Kwok-leung (C-PI), Dr Wong Shui-yee (C-I), Professor Xie Min (C-I), and Dr Zhang Qingpeng (C-I).   

The TRS objective is to focus the academic research efforts of the University Grants Committee-funded institutions on themes of strategic importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong.

Only four projects received funding from the scheme in the fourth round of the exercise.