How do fees work at the Chinese Medicine Hospital? Subsidised and market-oriented tracks, renamed district clinics, and $120 against $180, 2026

TL;DR The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O, in service from 11 December 2025) has two fee tracks: government-subsidised services and market-oriented services. A subsidised general outpatient consultation is HK$180, Chinese medicine not included, charged separately at HK$25 per prescription per day. A subsidised specialty outpatient consultation is HK$250 (the first-year price; the standard price is $280), and it is not walk-in — it takes an assessment at the general outpatient clinic, or a referral letter. The two things most often got wrong. First, a government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient consultation at a district clinic is HK$120 and includes, as clinically needed, "no more than five doses of Chinese medicine" (internal medicine only) — cheaper than the hospital's general outpatient clinic, and it includes more (though every patient must produce the original of a valid identity document at each visit, not only those claiming a waiver). Second, the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is not a public hospital under the Hospital Authority, so the Authority's fee waiver mechanism, the "annual spending cap" of ten thousand dollars a year introduced from 1 January 2026, and the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund do not carry across automatically; the hospital has a waiver list of its own. Also, from 1 July 2026 all the district Chinese medicine clinics were renamed, uniformly to district names, and the old "organisation-university" names are no longer used — search on an old name and you may not find it. This article sets out the published fees, a table of old and new names, and how to check a Chinese medicine practitioner's registration status. It will not force out a "private market rate" — the reason is set out below; which track and which treatment to use is for you and your attending practitioner to decide.

#What is the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong? Read this part first

It is Hong Kong's first hospital providing mainly Chinese medicine services, built wholly at government expense, regulated by the Health Bureau and run on a public-private partnership model — but it is not a Hospital Authority hospital. And inside this hospital, "integrated Chinese-Western medicine" does not mean half and half.

In the hospital's own words, it is Hong Kong's flagship Chinese medicine institution and the Chinese medicine teaching hospital of three local universities, carrying five development missions: healthcare services, teaching and training, research, multi-party collaboration, and creating health value.

The operating arrangement: in 2021 the government selected Hong Kong Baptist University as the "contractor" through a tender process, and in the same year the university registered a company limited by guarantee as the "operator", responsible for managing, operating and maintaining the hospital [Note 1]. That is: the government built the building, and a company limited by guarantee under Baptist University opens the doors each day.

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong Ordinance (Cap. 655) was gazetted and came into effect on 23 May 2025. It specifies and protects the Chinese and English names of the hospital at 1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O for that hospital's exclusive use; anyone who uses those names without authorisation, or creates an association with them, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 3 ($10,000) [Note 2].

In one sentence: in law the name refers only to that one hospital at 1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O. The provision's words are "uses the names without authorisation or creates an association with them" — an authorised association is not an offence, but a clinic calling itself the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong without authorisation, or implying an association with it, is already committing one. That is a way of telling, with a legal basis, that a reader can use.

Practical details: the address is 1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O, the telephone number is +852 3121 3121, and the site covers about 42,900 square metres. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 9 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon and 2 to 6 in the afternoon, closed all day on Sundays and public holidays. The general outpatient and specialty outpatient clinics are on the ground floor, and the private outpatient clinic is on the first floor — the market-oriented track is, in practice, a different door.

What "integrated Chinese-Western medicine" means here. The hospital's "unique features" page lists three service models, and all three are pure Chinese medicine or Chinese-medicine-led, with even "integrated Chinese-Western medicine" defined as Chinese-medicine-led [Note 3]. In one sentence: Western medicine is a priced item in this hospital (a subsidised Western medicine consultation is $180 at the general outpatient clinic or $250 at the specialty outpatient clinic, the first-year price against a standard price of $280; a market-oriented Western medicine specialist consultation is $480 in the first year against a standard price of $600), but it sits within a treatment plan led by a Chinese medicine practitioner.

There is an easy confusion here. The Hospital Authority also has an "integrated Chinese-Western medicine service", but it is a different thing: a Legislative Council background brief records that as at September 2025 it had been extended to 26 public hospitals under the Authority and 67 designated service points, covering 6 designated disease programmes (stroke treatment, musculoskeletal pain treatment, cancer palliative care, a cancer treatment pilot, a respiratory treatment pilot and a knee osteoarthritis treatment pilot). The Authority's version is a Western medicine hospital adding Chinese medicine; the hospital's version is a Chinese medicine hospital adding Western medicine. The names are the same and the things are not.

Disease-specific programmes. The hospital has designed Chinese medicine disease-specific programmes for 23 specified conditions, of which two had been launched as at 22 July 2026: a post-stroke treatment programme (covering post-acute stroke treatment and treatment of stroke sequelae) and a low back pain treatment programme (covering acute low back pain and subacute and chronic low back pain). The government's press release of 15 October 2025 states that the target for the opening year is 12 disease-specific programmes, and that "other services will also be expanded year by year, including the successive launch of the remaining 11 disease-specific programmes" — so the first two are part of a first-year target, but the source itself does not fix a timetable for the remaining 11, so this is not a clean story about being behind; it only tells you that a first-year figure of 12 has been set. Disease-specific programmes run through the specialty outpatient clinic, not the general outpatient clinic — which matters in the fees section below.

⚠️ If you assume a new hospital is a public hospital: that assumption will make you get the waivers wrong. And if you are a stroke rehabilitation or long-term back pain patient, or their family, what you are looking for is a disease-specific programme.

#Why did the government build a Chinese medicine hospital?

From reserving the land in 2014 to opening in 2025 took eleven years; the purpose the government wrote down was to lift Hong Kong's Chinese medicine services back up from primary care into secondary and tertiary care.

The development history on the hospital's background page: the 2014 Policy Address announced that a site in Tseung Kwan O would be reserved for Hong Kong's first Chinese medicine hospital, the 2017 Policy Address announced that it would be built, and in 2021 the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved funding for the works [Note 4]. The other milestones listed on the same page: the Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office was set up in 2018, the hospital was formally named on 9 October 2024, the Ordinance came into effect on 23 May 2025, and services began in phases on 11 December.

The government's own stated reason: in the press release of 15 October 2025, the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said that once open the hospital could lead Hong Kong's Chinese medicine services from primary care into secondary and tertiary healthcare, and that he hoped it would further establish a "Hong Kong model" of pure Chinese medicine, Chinese-medicine-led and integrated Chinese-Western clinical services [Note 5].

In other words, the official framing is not "one more Chinese medicine clinic" but pushing Chinese medicine up from the layer where neighbours go for minor illness into inpatient care and complex cases. That also explains why the first year has only outpatient and day inpatient services — the government states that inpatient services will mainly begin in the second year, with 400 beds expected to open by the end of 2030.

The relation to the district network. The hospital does not start from nothing. The Hospital Authority's "CMK" page states that the Chief Executive's 2018 Policy Address announced the incorporation of Chinese medicine into Hong Kong's healthcare system, including the provision of government-subsidised outpatient services at 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres; and that in line with the 2022 Policy Address the subsidised quota rose from about 600 000 to 800 000 a year with effect from October 2023.

At policy level, the government published Hong Kong's first Blueprint for Chinese Medicine Development on 18 December 2025, covering five areas, eight goals and 20 actions [Note 6]. The Legislative Council Panel on Health Services background brief (CB(3)101/2026(04), 6 February 2026) also records the division of policy responsibility: the Chinese Medicine Unit of the Health Bureau handles policy coordination, the Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office drives the hospital, and the Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office of the Department of Health enforces the Chinese Medicine Ordinance.

⚠️ If you are wondering whether to go to the new hospital or a clinic in your district: the two are different tiers of service point under the same policy, not old and new versions of the same thing, and the district clinics have not contracted because the hospital opened.

#How are the two fee tracks divided? Understand this before looking at prices

The division is not by condition but by your own choice: subsidised services are open to eligible members of the public but the quota is limited, while market-oriented services are unsubsidised but let you choose your own practitioner.

The hospital's own account is that, to demonstrate its commitment to public healthcare while promoting positive interaction with the market, it provides both government-subsidised services and market-oriented services; that in setting the fee levels for subsidised services it has taken into account market prices, the public's affordability and the cost of the services; and that market-oriented services charge market prices, benchmarked against private market standards [Note 7]. The government press release of 15 October 2025 carries a differently worded statement with a different subject [Note 8].

The two sentences have to be kept apart. The hospital's web page says "has taken into account", and it is talking about the fee levels of subsidised services; the press release says "has fully taken into account", it is talking about the fee model, and its subject is the hospital, not the government. Two documents, two objects, and they should not be run together.

How much of the service is subsidised? The same press release states that 65 per cent of the hospital's overall service volume is government-subsidised service, and that eligible members of the Hong Kong public may all choose to use it [Note 9]. Note that this is a proportion of overall service volume, not a guarantee that every service and every session has a subsidised quota.

⚠️ How is the eligibility line between the two tracks drawn? The official text is very short, and does not define "eligible". The hospital's subsidised services page has only one sentence: eligible members of the Hong Kong public may all choose to use subsidised services. The market-oriented services page states no eligibility condition at all. So the division is not by income and not by condition but by your own choice plus whether quota is available — and the word "eligible" is left undefined by the hospital's fees page, its subsidised services page and both opening press releases. This differs from the district clinics: the Hospital Authority sets out three categories of service target in black and white, and the hospital does not. Do not carry the Hospital Authority's eligibility definition across and use it as the hospital's; to confirm whether you count, call 3121 3121.

First-year trial prices, with different discount depths on the two tracks, and the hospital says so itself. The subsidised services page says that in the opening year certain designated services will be offered at a trial price of seventy to ninety per cent of the standard price; the market-oriented services page says eighty to ninety per cent of the standard price [Note 10].

⚠️ No issuing body has ever said when the first-year prices end. Every fee PDF says only "first-year fees" and "the above fees take effect from 11 December 2025", and closes with "the above fees are for reference only; the hospital's latest announcement governs". This article will not state or imply an end date for the first-year prices.

The reality of quota. The hospital's press release of 4 July 2026 states that demand for both government-subsidised and market-oriented outpatient services exceeds supply; that after a fourth increase in outpatient quota, the total outpatient service volume for the first year after opening is expected to exceed 140 000 attendances; and that from that date the overall outpatient service volume rose to over 13,000 attendances a month, with the aim of raising it to over 17,000 a month before August 2026 [Note 11]. Note that the market-oriented quota is also capped and was also raised in step — paying does not mean there is no queue.

⚠️ If you plan to wait for the first-year trial price: no official document says when it ends, and the quota on both tracks has been raised four times and still falls short of demand.

#The hospital is not a Hospital Authority hospital — and that goes straight to your pocket

The government press release puts it plainly: the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is not a public hospital managed by the Hospital Authority under the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap. 113). So the Hospital Authority benefits you are used to do not follow you across automatically.

The original text is at [Note 12]. In one sentence: the Hospital Authority's "annual spending cap" introduced from 1 January 2026 without means testing, the Authority's fee waiver mechanism, the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund medical assistance all operate within the system of public hospitals under the Hospital Authority. The Chinese Medicine Hospital is not in that system; it has its own.

The Hospital Authority's own Chinese wording is that from 1 January 2026 the Authority is establishing, alongside the medical fee waiver mechanism, a second safety net setting an annual cap of ten thousand Hong Kong dollars on public healthcare service fees for eligible patients without a means test [Note 13]. Both texts state that it applies to "eligible persons", and the scheme belongs to the Hospital Authority system — the Chinese Medicine Hospital is not in it.

The hospital's own waiver list has three categories: recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; holders of a residential care service voucher at level "0" under the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly; and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above [Note 14]. The press release adds one more route: other patients in financial difficulty who cannot afford the fees may also apply to the hospital for a waiver.

⚠️ The Chinese and English texts differ substantively, and the difference runs against you. The Chinese version writes 「75歲或以上長者生活津貼受惠人」, without the word 「高額」; the English version writes "recipients of the Higher Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above" — and the difference is that word Higher. The same difference appears on the Hospital Authority's district clinic pages (Chinese 「75歲或以上的長者生活津貼受惠人」, English "Higher Old Age Living Allowance Recipients (Aged 75 or above)"). A reader who reads only the Chinese may think they qualify when they do not. Ask before you go which tier of the Old Age Living Allowance counts.

There is also an arrangement with a definite end date: the hospital is waiving medical fees for victims of the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po. All residents of the eight blocks of Wang Fuk Court (including foreign domestic helpers), and anyone injured in that fire who was taken to a public hospital under the Hospital Authority, have a full waiver of the hospital's medical fees until 31 December 2026, covering all government-subsidised services [Note 15].

⚠️ If you are on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or the Old Age Living Allowance, or a long-term patient relying on Hospital Authority waivers: what you have at the Hospital Authority does not follow you here automatically, and you have to apply to the Chinese Medicine Hospital separately.

#The district Chinese medicine clinics were all renamed on 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026 the 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres all took district names, and the old compound "organisation-university" names are no longer used. Search on an old name and you may not find it.

The Hospital Authority's "CMK" renaming notice states that the new name is "[district name] Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre", so as to reflect more clearly a district-based positioning and direction of development in serving the public; that after the renaming, daily operations, service arrangements and booking methods stay the same, that patients' past medical records and information are unaffected, and that the clinics will not telephone anyone about the renaming or ask for any additional personal information [Note 16].

⚠️ That last sentence is an anti-fraud warning written by the operator itself: the clinics will not telephone you because of the renaming, and will not ask you to supply any additional personal information. If someone calls saying that the Chinese medicine clinic has been renamed and your information needs updating, that is the opposite of what the official notice says.

The new names take one thing away: which organisation and which university runs which clinic. Counting down the table above (the government publishes no such figure): the University of Hong Kong 6, Hong Kong Baptist University 6, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong 6, an exact three-way split; while the operating organisations number ten (Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association, Pok Oi Hospital, Christian Family Service Centre, Yan Chai Hospital, the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, Yan Oi Tong, HKFTU Workers' Medical Clinics, Haven of Hope, and United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service). And those three universities are the "three local universities" the Chinese Medicine Hospital refers to; the hospital's operator is itself a company under Baptist University.

How they are run. The Hospital Authority's "CMK" states that Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres have been established in all 18 districts, operated on a tripartite collaboration model by the Hospital Authority, non-governmental organisations and local universities, with the non-governmental organisations responsible for daily operations; and that the clinics were repositioned in March 2020 so that, besides their original teaching and research functions, they also serve as district Chinese medicine clinics providing government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services, while continuing to provide non-government-subsidised Chinese medicine services such as tianjiu and expert consultations [Note 17]. The Health Bureau used the same formulation in a written Legislative Council reply of 8 November 2023, and a Legislative Council panel paper of 14 March 2025 repeated it again — tripartite collaboration, daily operations by the non-governmental organisations, on which three official documents agree.

⚠️ If you are finding a clinic for an older relative: the old names are of no use now, so check the table above before telephoning.

#District clinics against the hospital, $120 against $180 — which is really cheaper?

A district Chinese medicine clinic is HK$120 a visit and includes, as clinically needed, "no more than five doses of Chinese medicine" (internal medicine only); the hospital's general outpatient clinic is HK$180 a visit and includes not one dose. So for the commonest case of all — an internal medicine consultation with a few doses of medicine — the district clinic is not only cheaper but includes more.

The scope of service on the Hospital Authority's "government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services" page runs to three complete items: internal medicine (including the consultation fee and, as clinically needed, no more than five doses of Chinese medicine), acupuncture, and bone-setting or tui na (at some clinics) [Note 18]. On fees: each service is set at HK$120 a visit; every patient must produce the original of a valid identity document; recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above must, at each registration, produce both the original of a valid identity document and the original of a valid notification of assistance issued by the Social Welfare Department, and once eligibility is verified the fee is waived; and vouchers and discounts do not apply to government-subsidised Chinese medicine services [Note 19].

⚠️ The document requirement has two layers, and it is not only those claiming a waiver who have to bring something. The first layer applies to everyone: the official text says every patient must produce the original of a valid identity document, to verify that they are an eligible Hong Kong resident — so even if you are paying the whole $120 yourself, without the original document you will not get past registration. Only the second layer is the waiver: recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above do not pay the $120, but must bring, in addition, the original notification of assistance issued by the Social Welfare Department at each registration (a "notification of approval of application", a "notification of adjustment of assistance" or a "notification of adjustment of allowance") — and without the full set you will not be treated as eligible.

The service targets, all three: a person holding a Hong Kong identity card issued under the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Cap. 177) (other than one issued on the strength of an expired or no longer valid permission to land or remain); a child under 11 who is a Hong Kong resident; and any other person recognised by the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority. Anyone outside those is defined as a person who is not eligible.

⚠️ The word "subsidised" on the two sides of the table above describes arrangements under one policy, but "eligible" is not the same definition. On the district clinic side the Hospital Authority sets out three categories of service target expressly, and anyone outside them is a person who is not eligible; on the hospital side the official text is a single sentence, that eligible members of the Hong Kong public may all choose to use subsidised services, with no definition published. The eligibility definition in the left column cannot be used to infer the right one.

Booking works differently too. At the district clinics, a patient with an episodic illness (a cold, say) may book for the same day or the next working day, either by telephoning the clinic directly or through the "18 District Chinese Medicine Clinics" mobile app (only for those who have registered to use the service before); a follow-up patient books as the practitioner advises, "within 30 days after the day of consultation". Two further practical rules: on lateness, "a patient more than 30 minutes past the appointment time must book again"; and cancellation through the app must be "at least one hour beforehand". The clinics provide services in Cantonese, English and Putonghua only, and anyone needing interpretation must arrange it themselves.

How quota is divided. The Legislative Council reply of 8 November 2023 states that the 800 000 service quotas for the year are distributed evenly across the 18 Chinese medicine clinics, and that generally half of each clinic's quota goes to bookings for patients with episodic illness and the other half to follow-up patients [Note 20]. Working from those two sentences: 800 000 divided by 18 is about 44 000 quotas a clinic a year, of which about 22 000 are for episodic (new case, same day or next working day) bookings. The same reply records that in the first 2 weeks of October 2023 the whole network provided "about 2 900 service quotas a day", or "about 130 to 160" at each clinic, markedly up from the same period the year before (about 1 800 a day across the network, about 90 to 110 at each clinic).

⚠️ Tianjiu is not inside the $120. The Hospital Authority lists tianjiu expressly as a "non-government-subsidised Chinese medicine service" at the clinics, alongside expert consultations.

⚠️ If you are going for an internal medicine consultation for a cold, a stomach complaint or insomnia and need medicine prescribed: among published fees the district clinic is the cheapest route, and same-day or next-working-day appointments are available.

#The hospital's two tracks: what they actually charge, and which door leads where

The subsidised track has two entrances and two prices: general outpatient $180 and specialty outpatient $250 (first year), and the specialty outpatient clinic is not somewhere you can simply walk up and register. The market-oriented track charges by the practitioner's grade, but the whole fee schedule publishes only two grades.

Where do these prices come from? The press release of 15 October 2025 states that the funding arrangements for subsidised services, teaching and training and research projects, and the setting of overall service fees, are all carried out under the service contract signed between the government and the contractor and the operator [Note 21]. In other words, these prices are set neither by a fees ordinance nor by following the Hospital Authority's fee schedule, but by a tripartite service contract. The contract itself is not public, so how the $180 was arrived at cannot be shown — only that it is governed by the contract. The hospital's own press release of 4 July 2026 confirms the mechanism: increasing quota requires "an application submitted to the Health Bureau… which has been approved by the Health Bureau".

#The subsidised track: two doors, two prices

The opening-day press release states that a member of the public wishing to book a specialty outpatient service may first book a general outpatient consultation for assessment, or upload directly a referral letter from a registered Chinese medicine practitioner, a Western medicine doctor or another registered healthcare professional (a nurse, pharmacist or allied health professional, for example) [Note 22].

That is: the specialty outpatient clinic is reached either by transfer from the general outpatient clinic or with a referral letter in hand. And for the post-stroke and low back pain disease-specific programmes, the subsidised Chinese medicine consultation printed on the fee schedule is $250, not $180, because they run through the specialty outpatient clinic. Anyone who assumes that a subsidised outpatient consultation at the hospital means $180 and signs up for a disease-specific programme will get the arithmetic wrong.

Things the fee schedule will not tell you that go straight to the amount.

First, consultation and treatment are two separate charges, but treatment is charged once. At the general outpatient clinic, "Chinese medicine consultation $180" and "Chinese medicine treatment $180" are two independent lines — see the practitioner and then have needles, and you pay both. But the official note says Chinese medicine treatment is "provided as clinically needed, with no limit on the items or kinds", so however many techniques are used within one treatment session, that is the price.

Second, decocting and delivering the medicine are at market prices and outside the subsidised scope. The note to the subsidised medication PDF states that the cost of Chinese medicine preparations, decoction service and delivery is not within the scope of subsidised services [Note 23]. So even on the subsidised track, decoction has to be paid at the market-oriented price of $20 a dose (minimum 3 doses), and delivery at $60 a time.

Third, day inpatient care is the only "all-in, medicine included" item on the whole fee schedule. A subsidised day inpatient session (4 hours) is $450, expressly covering accommodation, Chinese and Western medicine consultations, Chinese medicine treatment, general laboratory tests and X-rays, integrated allied health, nursing procedures, and the Chinese and Western medicines and consumables needed during the stay — exactly the reverse of the outpatient rule that medicine is charged separately.

Fourth, a Chinese medicine hospital's subsidised services include MRI and CT, and the price for the same site differs several-fold between the two tracks — but that "several-fold" rests on an assumption nobody has written down. Subsidised tier II is $1,000 an occasion, and the fee schedule's examples list "computed tomography with contrast — neck, chest, upper abdomen, lower abdomen" and "magnetic resonance imaging — neck, chest, upper abdomen, lower abdomen" [Note 24] — the CT item expressly says "with contrast", while the MRI item carries no wording about contrast at all, and the schedule does not say whether it is plain or with contrast. The market-oriented MRI schedule has two columns: neck or nasopharynx plain $6,400 and plain with contrast $10,360; upper abdomen plain $7,200 and plain with contrast $10,880; lower abdomen or pelvis plain $7,200 and plain with contrast $10,880. This article takes the plain column below, giving 6.4 to 7.2 times — if the subsidised tier II MRI is in fact with contrast like the CT in the same tier (a reasonable reading, since CT is the only item in that tier whose contrast status is stated), the fair comparison would be the plain-with-contrast column of $10,360, $10,880 and $10,880, and the ratio becomes about 10.4 to 10.9 times, 50 per cent higher than the figure below. The fee schedule itself does not resolve the ambiguity, and this article has not telephoned the hospital to check — a reader who wants to know which kind of scan it is should ask the hospital directly.

#The market-oriented track: by practitioner grade, and five "other Chinese medicine treatments"

Why would anyone pay more? The official answer is on the record. The opening-day press release of 11 December 2025 quotes Professor Lo Chung-mau: besides the subsidised outpatient services, patients may also book non-subsidised outpatient services and choose the specific practitioner they wish to see [Note 25].

That is: what this track buys is not merely speed but the ability to name the practitioner you want, which the subsidised track does not offer. That is the distinction as drawn by the Secretary for Health himself.

As for grades, the footnote to the market-oriented fee summary is the only defining sentence in the whole set of documents: "charged by category of Chinese medicine practitioner: senior Chinese medicine practitioner / consultant Chinese medicine practitioner". The medical team page publishes no grade ladder, and no document explains what experience a "consultant Chinese medicine practitioner" requires, so this article gives the prices and does not characterise what the two grades mean.

Several things the fee schedules do not explain but that you can work out yourself.

First, the medicine costs at least 3.6 times as much, and the $90 on the market-oriented side is a starting price. Same hospital, same dispensary: subsidised Chinese medicine is $25 per prescription per day and market-oriented is $90, and $90 divided by $25 is 3.6 times. But note that two of the hospital's own documents write not "$90" but "from $90" — the market-oriented fee summary prints "Chinese and Western medicines — Chinese medicine — from $90 per prescription per day", and the fee annex to the press release of 22 July 2026 also prints "from $90 per prescription per day". So 3.6 times is a floor, not a fixed value, and the next two lines are the reasons the schedule itself publishes.

Second, there are two lines that will take you past $90, one priced and one not. The priced one is the 16-ingredient line: herbal pieces "beyond 16 ingredients per prescription" cost $3 more for each additional ingredient — classical formulae often run past sixteen ingredients, and you can work this one out yourself. The unpriced one is "over weight": under "special Chinese medicines", the schedule states that both herbal pieces and concentrated granules "over weight" are "charged by quantity used", with the note "please ask our staff for details" — no unit price is published, so you have to ask. Between them, those two lines are where the "from" in "from $90" comes from.

Third, the dearer grade does not always mean the dearest treatment. The five "other Chinese medicine treatments" are a flat price regardless of grade: gua sha, hot compress and acupoint application are all $250 whoever performs them; but acupuncture by the same consultant is $630. That asymmetry is published; it is simply not explained.

Fourth, the gap between the two tracks in integrated allied health is the widest among the outpatient items — but it is not the widest gap in the whole schedule. A subsidised integrated allied health outpatient treatment is $380; market-oriented physiotherapy is $1,000 (2.6 times) and speech therapy $1,780 (4.7 times). That is far wider than the gap in Chinese medicine consultations; but the widest published gap in the whole schedule is not in outpatient care at all, it is day inpatient care (subsidised $450 against a market-oriented estimate of $2,650–$5,370, or 5.9 to 11.9 times).

Fifth, several fee schedules say expressly that they are incomplete. Six PDFs — Chinese and Western medicines, clinical laboratory tests, radiological examinations, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound — all carry the sentence "only commonly used items are listed above; for other services and details please ask our staff". The table above reproduces the items officially published, but these categories are not complete lists — the hospital says so itself.

Sixth, the "programmes" price page is blank. The hospital's services page states that it has designed a series of treatment and body check programmes to suit different Chinese medicine conditions and the health needs of the public and patients, and notes that these programmes are market-oriented services; but the "programmes" page under market-oriented services has no content at all — no prices, no text, no PDF (2026-08-01). To have a package, you can only ask.

Seventh, the first insurance form and the first report are free. The medical report fee schedule states that completing an insurance claim form, a medical certificate or a medical questionnaire is free for the first application and the first report; thereafter the administrative fee is $200 per application and $200 per report. Writing a medical report carries an administrative fee of $150, plus $720 per report per doctor at the general or specialty outpatient clinic.

⚠️ If you are looking at post-stroke rehabilitation or chronic low back pain (you are going into the specialty outpatient clinic, where the meter starts at $250), or if you plan to name a particular practitioner: consultation, treatment, medicine, decoction and delivery are five separate charges, and the official PDF states expressly that the consultation fee "does not include Chinese medicine treatment, special Western medicine diagnostic and treatment procedures, clinical laboratory tests, medication or other charges".

#Do the arithmetic once: what the same course of treatment costs on three routes

Everything below is worked out from the official unit prices already quoted, with no unquoted figure added. Mind the units: the district clinics count in doses, the hospital's Chinese medicine counts per prescription per day, and decoction counts per dose — three different units that cannot be converted into one another.

#Example one: an internal medicine consultation with a course of medicine

The situation: one consultation plus a course of Chinese medicine. To make the three comparable, each is put as "one consultation plus 5 units of medicine", with a note on each line as to what those 5 units are in the original.

(a) A district Chinese medicine clinic (government-subsidised). An internal medicine consultation is $120 (the official text: including the consultation fee and, as clinically needed, no more than five doses of Chinese medicine). Total $120. 5 doses or fewer are already inside it.

(b) The hospital's general outpatient clinic (government-subsidised). A Chinese medicine consultation is $180, plus Chinese medicine at $25 times 5 days, which is $125 (the official unit: per prescription per day). Total $305. That is the only total in (b) whose units are consistent.

The following two are add-ons, and their units differ from the above and should not simply be added to the $305: decoction service at $20 per dose (minimum 3 doses; decoction is market-oriented and not covered on the subsidised track). ⚠️ No official document says how many doses make a day; the number of doses is settled by the attending practitioner's prescription. If your prescription happens to be one dose a day, five days is 5 doses, which is $100, giving a total of $405; if it is not one dose a day, recalculate on the actual number. Add delivery at $60 per delivery and, on the same assumption, the total is $465.

(c) The hospital, market-oriented (senior Chinese medicine practitioner). A Chinese medicine consultation is $450 (first-year price; standard $560), plus Chinese medicine at $90 times 5 days, which is $450 — and this line is a floor, because the hospital's market-oriented fee summary and the annex to the press release of 2026-07-22 say "from $90 per prescription per day", and a prescription beyond 16 ingredients ($3 an ingredient) or "over weight" (charged by quantity used, no unit price published) will push it up. Total from $900 (from $1,010 at standard prices). Change to a consultant: consultation $790 plus medicine $450 is from $1,240 (at standard prices, $980 plus $450, from $1,430).

(d) The same, but at the non-subsidised outpatient service of one of the organisations that runs a district clinic (the published prices of Pok Oi Hospital's Sha Tin District clinic, effective 1 April 2025). A general consultation with 2 doses of Chinese medicine is $160; for 3 doses more, dispensing at $70 a dose times 3 is $210, giving $370 in all (these are another organisation's prices, on a different basis and in different units from the above, and are given for reference only). ⚠️ There is a line of small print lower on the same page: "* This hospital offers concessions on Chinese medicine to elderly persons and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; please ask our staff for details." How much the concession takes off is not published, so for an elderly person or a CSSA recipient the $160 and $370 above are list prices before any concession.

How to read it. Counting only consultation plus five units of medicine, the cheapest is the district clinic's $120 and the dearest the consultant's from $1,240, a difference of at least about 10.3 times ($1,240 divided by $120 is about 10.3). Note that the two are different in kind: the $120 is a capped price (five doses or fewer are already inside it) and the $1,240 is a starting price (the medicine is printed as "from $90") — so 10.3 times is a floor. The $305 in the middle is the hospital's subsidised general outpatient clinic — dearer than the district clinic, but what you get into is a hospital with MRI, laboratories and a day ward.

#Example two: adding acupuncture

District clinic: consultation $120 plus acupuncture as a separate service $120 is $240 (the official text: "each service is set at HK$120 a visit"). Hospital general outpatient clinic (subsidised): consultation $180 plus Chinese medicine treatment $180 is $360. Hospital specialty outpatient clinic (subsidised, first year): consultation $250 plus Chinese medicine treatment $250 is $500. Hospital market-oriented, senior practitioner: consultation $450 plus acupuncture $450 is $900. Hospital market-oriented, consultant: consultation $790 plus acupuncture $630 is $1,420.

#Example three: the widest cracks between the two tracks

These two are not consultation fees; they are where the gap between the tracks is widest across the whole fee system.

Day inpatient care, per 4-hour session: subsidised $450; the hospital's own market-oriented estimate is "an estimated $2,650 - $5,370 a session". $2,650 divided by $450 is about 5.9 times and $5,370 divided by $450 about 11.9 times. That is the widest published gap in the whole fee system, and it is not on the fees page but in the annex to a press release of 22 July 2026. The hospital also notes what that estimate covers and that "the estimate is for reference only; the actual cost is adjusted according to the patient's clinical needs" [Note 26].

Magnetic resonance imaging: for the same site, the market-oriented track (plain) is 6.4 to 7.2 times the subsidised track — but that ratio assumes the subsidised MRI is a plain scan, which the fee schedule does not say. Subsidised tier II is $1,000 an occasion, and the schedule's examples list neck, chest, upper abdomen and lower abdomen without saying whether the MRI is plain or with contrast; the CT in the same tier says "with contrast" expressly. The market-oriented table has plain and plain-with-contrast columns for the same sites: neck or nasopharynx $6,400 / $10,360 (6.4 / 10.4 times), upper abdomen $7,200 / $10,880 (7.2 / 10.9 times), lower abdomen or pelvis $7,200 / $10,880 (7.2 / 10.9 times). Three things to note: first, if the subsidised MRI is in fact with contrast like the CT, the fair multiple would be 10.4 to 10.9 times rather than 6.4 to 7.2 — the schedule itself does not resolve the ambiguity; second, the brain scan at $6,400 on the market-oriented table cannot be set against the $1,000, because the brain is not among the sites listed as examples in subsidised tier II, and whether it counts within tier II is a question for the hospital; third, the chest on the subsidised table has no separate line in the market-oriented MRI extract obtained for this article, so no multiple is given for the chest.

⚠️ If you need imaging or a day inpatient stay: the gap between the tracks on those two items is far larger than the few hundred dollars in consultation fees. Which track you choose makes the biggest difference in money on exactly those two.

#The point at which the Elderly Health Care Voucher works backwards

Note this: within one NGO clinic, the unsubsidised service takes vouchers while the subsidised one does not. For a voucher-holder aged 65 or above, the nominally dearer option can take less cash out of pocket than the cheaper one.

Two pieces of official text, set side by side, make it clear. The Hospital Authority's "government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services" says that vouchers and discounts do not apply to government-subsidised Chinese medicine services; the clinic page of Pok Oi Hospital's Sha Tin District Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre (fees effective from 1 April 2025) says that for government-subsidised Chinese medicine services the "consultation fee is 120 dollars a visit (the service is for eligible Hong Kong residents; vouchers and discounts do not apply)", while the outpatient services on the same page are listed as a general consultation with 2 doses of Chinese medicine at 160 dollars a visit, a general expert consultation at 300 dollars, acupuncture or bone-setting at 230 dollars a visit and an expert consultation at 360 dollars, with "vouchers accepted" stated on the same page [Note 27].

That is: the $120 subsidised service takes cash and no vouchers; the $160 unsubsidised general service at the same clinic is $40 dearer, but includes 2 doses of Chinese medicine and takes vouchers.

For an elderly voucher-holder, the $120 has to be paid in real money while the $160 can be paid with vouchers, so on the question of how much cash comes out of pocket that $40 difference can run the other way. This does not make vouchers free money — a voucher is a personal subsidy with an annual amount, and what is spent here is not available elsewhere; how best to use it depends on the shape of your medical spending across the year.

⚠️ Three limits have to be stated clearly.

First, the $160, $230, $300 and $360 above are all the published prices of one organisation, Pok Oi Hospital (the Sha Tin District clinic page, effective 2025-04-01). The eighteen district clinics are run by ten different organisations, each setting its own unsubsidised fees, and this article has quoted only this one's published prices. Do not treat them as "the unsubsidised prices of the district clinics".

Second, whether the Chinese Medicine Hospital takes vouchers is not stated in any official document, and this article will not guess. The hospital's fee PDFs, fees page, FAQ page (currently the whole page reads "to be announced") and both opening press releases make no mention of vouchers. To ask, call 3121 3121.

Third, that $40 difference may itself be less than $40, because the same page carries a concession with no published amount. Below Pok Oi's fee table are two lines of small print: "* This hospital offers concessions on Chinese medicine to elderly persons and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; please ask our staff for details." and "(This hospital reserves the right to review and revise its fees periodically)." That is: for an elderly person the $160 is a list price before any concession, and how much the concession takes off is not published and has to be asked at the counter. So "dearer by $40" above is, for an elderly voucher-holder on published prices, an upper bound — in practice it may be narrower than $40. (A CSSA recipient is a different calculation: the $120 government-subsidised service is already fully waived for them, so no difference arises.)

How important is Chinese medicine within the voucher scheme? A Legislative Council panel paper of 14 March 2025 states that as at the end of 2024 a total of 4 551 Chinese medicine practitioners were enrolled in the voucher scheme; that in 2024 elderly people made over 5.2 million claim transactions totalling about 33億4千6百萬元, of which the transactions and amounts claimed by Chinese medicine practitioners were about 2.16 million transactions (about 41.4% of the total) and 12億2千8百萬元 (about 36.7% of the total); and that both by number of transactions and by amount, they ranked second among the 14 categories of Hong Kong healthcare professionals [Note 28]. For comparison with 2022 (a Legislative Council reply of 2023): about 8億5千多萬元 claimed for Chinese medicine services, over about 1.65 million transactions.

Working from those two sets of quoted figures (the government publishes no such figure): the average amount claimed per Chinese medicine voucher transaction in 2024 is 12.28億 divided by 216萬, or about $568; in 2022 it is about 8.5億 divided by 165萬, or about $520 (the source says 「約8億5千多萬元」, an open-ended figure, so this line can only be taken as an approximation). ⚠️ This is the amount of voucher claimed, not the total consultation fee the patient paid — a patient may pay the balance on top. But it is the only figure this article could find at population scale, with an official provenance, that bears on what private Chinese medicine actually charges, and it sits neatly between Pok Oi's $160–$360 and the hospital's market-oriented $450–$790.

⚠️ If you are 65 or above with vouchers in hand and see a Chinese medicine practitioner regularly, or you are their child: the question to ask the clinic is not "how much" but "does this item take vouchers".

#How do you check whether a Chinese medicine practitioner is registered? What is the difference between a registered and a listed practitioner?

The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong publishes three lists, not one. And "registered Chinese medicine practitioner" and "listed Chinese medicine practitioner" are two different statutory categories, with different documents hanging on the clinic wall.

The Council's own definitions. A registered Chinese medicine practitioner may use the titles 「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫」, 「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫師」, 「註冊中醫」 and 「註冊中醫師」, and must display a practising certificate for registered Chinese medicine practitioners in a conspicuous place at the place of practice or the clinic [Note 29]. A listed Chinese medicine practitioner may use the titles 「表列中醫」 and 「表列中醫師」, and must post a notice for listed Chinese medicine practitioners in the clinic [Note 30].

In other words, one of two documents should be on the wall: a practising certificate for registered Chinese medicine practitioners, or a notice for listed Chinese medicine practitioners. Which one is there tells you which category you are dealing with. That is the means of identification the Council designed itself.

⚠️ The English and Chinese versions of those two Council pages are inconsistent, and the inconsistency matters to readers. The English version says a listed practitioner may use "the title of 'Chinese medicine practitioner'" — a title that does not reveal listed status; the Chinese version confines it to 「表列中醫」 and 「表列中醫師」. This article reproduces both without forcing them into agreement. In practice, going by the document on the wall is more reliable than going by the title.

Why does the category of listed Chinese medicine practitioner exist? Under section 90 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, a Chinese medicine practitioner who was practising in Hong Kong on 3 January 2000 could, through the transitional arrangements for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners, apply to the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board between 16 August 2000 and 30 December 2000 to become a listed practitioner; the list was gazetted on 21 December 2001 [Note 31]. And the threshold for becoming a registered practitioner is: a person who has passed the Licensing Examination, or a listed practitioner whom the Board has decided is eligible to apply for registration under the transitional arrangements [Note 32].

In one sentence: the listed Chinese medicine practitioner is a historical category that has been closed. The window opened on 16 August 2000 and closed on 30 December of the same year, and nobody has become a listed practitioner since. Every listed practitioner was already practising in Hong Kong on 3 January 2000, so they have at least twenty-six years of practice; but they have not sat the Licensing Examination. The category exists because Hong Kong imposed regulation on a trade that already existed and handled those then in practice by way of transition — a description that carries no disparagement, and is drawn entirely from the Council's own words.

How many are there? The Department of Health's Health Facts of Hong Kong, 2025 edition (data on registered healthcare professionals at the end of 2024): registered Chinese medicine practitioners 8 575 (a practitioner-to-population ratio of 1:879), Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration 37, and listed Chinese medicine practitioners 2 079 (1:3 624); against 16 533 doctors over the same period (1:456).

Adding those three figures (the government publishes no such total): the three lists come to 10,691 people, against 16,533 doctors — roughly two Chinese medicine practitioners for every three doctors. And listed practitioners are 2,079 divided by 10,691 of all Chinese medicine practitioners, or about 19.4%, roughly one in five. That proportion is why "registered or listed" is worth a section rather than a footnote.

How does the government itself see the number? The Legislative Council background brief of 6 February 2026 states that the Administration said Hong Kong's existing complement of more than ten thousand Chinese medicine practitioners is already sufficient, and that the focus will be on raising their professional standard. The same document records that 3 universities currently offer 6-year undergraduate programmes in Chinese medicine funded by the University Grants Committee.

The Department of Health tells you to ask. Its press release of 18 July 2025, reminding the public that tianjiu should be performed by qualified Chinese medicine practitioners, states that before receiving tianjiu the public should first confirm the service provider's qualification as a Chinese medicine practitioner, and that anyone in doubt about a practitioner's qualification may ask the person to produce the relevant documentary proof; the lists of registered and listed practitioners are on the Council's website for public inspection [Note 33]. That is: a government department has said in writing that asking to see documentary proof is appropriate.

⚠️ Incidentally, three terms are often treated as one and are not. The same Department of Health press release states that tianjiu is a kind of moxibustion within Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion, and that tianjiu performed during the sanfu period is called sanfu tianjiu (the sanfu period in 2025 ran from 20 July to 18 August). As for acupoint application, that is a category name on the Chinese Medicine Hospital's fee schedule, and the Department's press release never uses the term at all. The three are not synonyms, and this article does not treat them as such. The Department also lists some people for whom tianjiu is not suitable: 「兩歲以下幼兒、孕婦、中醫辨證屬熱證的患者」 — infants under two, pregnant women, and patients whose Chinese medicine pattern differentiation is a heat pattern (our translation from the Chinese original) — and whether it is in fact suitable is for a practitioner to judge.

⚠️ If you are going to an unfamiliar Chinese medicine clinic for the first time: before you sit down, look up at the wall. Either document will do, but you should see one; if you do not, do as the Department of Health says and ask to see it.

#What do private Chinese medicine practitioners charge, and why does this article not report a "market rate"?

Because the great majority of Hong Kong's private Chinese medicine practitioners do not publish prices — and the ranking is the opposite of what you would guess: the one that publishes in most detail is the government-subsidised hospital, and the one that publishes no price at all is a university clinic network with 16 clinics.

First the scale, because this figure reframes the whole article. The Health Bureau's Legislative Council reply of 8 November 2023 states that the resources of Hong Kong's Chinese medicine sector are also mainly concentrated in the private sector, which provides about ten million Chinese medicine outpatient attendances a year [Note 34].

Set against those ten million attendances: the government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient quota is 800 000 a year; the district clinics' total attendances in 2024 were about 1.6 million (including subsidised and unsubsidised outpatient services, integrated Chinese-Western medicine and the Chinese medicine clinic service for civil servants); and the hospital expects "over 140 000 attendances" in its first year, with a long-term target of "400 000 attendances a year" by the end of 2030.

Working from the official figures already quoted (the government publishes none of these proportions): 800 000 divided by 10 million is 8% — the government-subsidised outpatient quota is about 8% of the size of the private sector. 400 000 divided by 10 million is 4% — the hospital in full operation by 2030 is about 4% of the private sector. Over 140 000 divided by 1.6 million is over 8.75% — the source's words are "over 140 000 attendances", not exactly 140 000, so this one is not a fixed value: the hospital's first-year outpatient volume is at least 8.75% of the district clinics' total service volume, and the real proportion may be higher.

In one sentence: the new hospital is a flagship, not a capacity solution. The great majority of Chinese medicine services in Hong Kong happen in a private sector that publishes no prices, which is why this article teaches you how to ask rather than reporting a market rate.

The transparency ranking is the opposite of what you would guess.

The University of Hong Kong is the best control group, and its prices will surprise you. The School of Chinese Medicine's "fees and appointment services" page states that from 1 April 2026 the consultation fees at the Central Clinical Centre and the Sassoon Road Specialist Clinical Centre are: professor or principal lecturer $800; senior lecturer $600; lecturer, senior Chinese medicine practitioner, assistant professor or research assistant professor $500; and assistant lecturer or Chinese medicine practitioner $350 [Note 35]. The same page notes that the consultation fee does not include the cost of medicine, and that the decoction fee is 20 Hong Kong dollars a dose. On discounts, the twenty per cent discount applies to a list of three: current University of Hong Kong students, full-time staff and their immediate family, and members of the public holding a Senior Citizen Card or a JoyYou Card (aged 65 or above), all of whom get a twenty per cent discount (excluding the cost of medicine and treatment); graduates of the University get a ten per cent discount on the consultation fee. The same page carries another note with no amount that nonetheless affects the total: an additional clinical service charge applies, at the fee on the treatment order signed by the practitioner — that is, on top of the consultation fee there is a further layer of clinical service charge whose amount is not on the web page but on the order the practitioner signs.

Set that against the Chinese Medicine Hospital: a consultant there is $790 (first year) or $980 (standard), and a professor or principal lecturer at the University is $800; a senior practitioner at the hospital is $450 (first year) or $560 (standard), and a senior practitioner at the University is $500. The decoction fees on both sides are identical: $20 a dose. The University publishes four grades and the hospital two.

The fair conclusion is that the hospital's "market-oriented" consultation fees sit within the range of a university teaching clinic's charges, with the top grade almost overlapping ($790 against $800). "Market-oriented" is not a synonym for dear. But two sides of it have to be stated clearly.

First, the consultant's standard price of $980 is higher than every grade the University publishes.

Second, that "$790 against $800" is list price against list price, before the University's discounts; for a reader aged 65 or above holding a Senior Citizen Card or a JoyYou Card, the order is reversed. The University's twenty per cent discount is stated to apply to members of the public aged 65 or above holding a Senior Citizen Card or a JoyYou Card, and it takes off only the consultation fee (excluding medicine and treatment): $800 at the twenty per cent discount is $640, $600 becomes $480, $500 becomes $400 and $350 becomes $280. The hospital's fee PDFs publish no discount by age at all. So for a card-holding elderly person the University's top grade is $640, below the hospital consultant's first-year price of $790.

The Chinese University is the reason the list of questions to ask exists. On the Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Centre's "service hours and fees" page, the general Chinese medicine line prints "$140 - $280 / $200 - $400 / $300 - $590 / $500 - $1000", and the acupuncture or bone-setting line prints "$250 - $510 / $320 - $640 / $380 - $760 / $590 - $1190" — four slash-separated price bands, with nothing anywhere on the page saying what the four bands represent. The same page notes that the actual fee will be adjusted according to the practitioner's clinical professional judgement of the individual condition.

Working from the published figures: general Chinese medicine runs from $140 to $1,000, a spread of 7.1 times ($1,000 divided by $140 is about 7.1). A reader holding that page cannot know which price they will pay — and that page is published by a university's medical centre.

⚠️ And those four price bands are only the consultation fee, not everything you will pay. Below the same fee table are three more lines, all charged separately: medicinal materials or granules "from $80 a dose"; a decoction fee of "$20 a dose (2 packets a dose) (minimum 3 doses each time)"; and "special or additional medicinal materials — please refer to the special or additional medicinal materials price list inside the clinic" [Note 36].

Two words in those three lines are worth noting. First, medicinal materials or granules are printed as "from $80 a dose" — that "from" is a starting price, not a price — so the impression that the cheapest is $140 is wrong: a general Chinese medicine consultation with medicine has a published floor of $140 plus from $80, that is from $220; and if decoction is wanted, since decoction itself has a minimum of 3 doses each time, the medicinal materials or granules have to be counted at 3 doses too (3 times from $80, or from $240) rather than at 1 dose, and adding the decoction fee of 3 doses at $20, or $60, the floor becomes $140 plus from $240 plus $60, that is from $440. Second, "special or additional medicinal materials" has no price published online at all; the fee table tells you to look at another price list inside the clinic, and a note on the same page adds that additional treatment items (cupping and plum-blossom needling, for example) and precious medicinal materials (chuanbei and ginseng, for example) are charged separately.

⚠️ The same page also prints a waiver arrangement, and it matters a good deal to CSSA and disability allowance recipients. The original text is at [Note 37]. Read as written: you need both a valid follow-up slip from a Hospital Authority hospital (with a follow-up date within one year before and three years after the day of consultation) and documentary proof of eligibility for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or the Disability Allowance; meet both and you get a waiver of the general consultation fee, with a 10 per cent waiver on "other fees". The conditions are drawn tightly too: the Sha Tin and Wan Chai clinics only, and once per person per day. The page uses the word "waiver" without saying whether it is a full waiver or by how much it reduces, so ask before you go.

Four organisations agree, surprisingly, on one thing: decoction at $20 a dose. The hospital charges $20 a dose (minimum 3 doses), the University of Hong Kong $20 a dose, the Chinese University $20 a dose (2 packets a dose, minimum 3 doses each time), and Pok Oi $20 a dose. All four organisations that publish prices — a hospital, two university clinics and an NGO — charge $20 a dose, which can serve as a reference point when asking about price. Note that none of those four is a typical neighbourhood private Chinese medicine practice, so this is not the trade's price.

And what really settles the total is whether the consultation fee includes the medicine. Of the five quoted examples: Pok Oi's $160 includes 2 doses and the district clinics' subsidised $120 includes no more than 5 doses (internal medicine only), which are the inclusive side; the hospital's $180 / $250 / $450 / $790, the University of Hong Kong's $350–$800 (with the same page noting that the consultation fee does not include the cost of medicine) and the Chinese University's $140–$1,000 (with medicine charged separately "from $80 a dose") are the exclusive side. So "how much is the consultation fee" does not answer how much you will pay.

#What to do next

All ten questions below are drawn from the fee schedules above; the answers are not repeated here, and the brackets only point to the section in the body.

1. Does the consultation fee include the medicine? How many doses? (This is the widest gap of the ten; see the "$120 against $180" section.)
2. How is decoction charged? Is there a minimum number of doses? (All four organisations charge $20 a dose; see the previous section.)
3. Is there a delivery charge? (See the market-oriented fee schedule.)
4. Is there an extra charge beyond a certain number of ingredients? (See the "16 ingredients" line of the market-oriented schedule.)
5. Are consultation and treatment two separate charges? (See "example two".)
6. Do you take Elderly Health Care Vouchers? (See "the point at which the Elderly Health Care Voucher works backwards"; for the hospital the official documents say nothing, so call 3121 3121 and ask.)
7. From when do the prices take effect? Is there an expiry? (No organisation has ever published an end date for its first-year prices.)
8. Which document is on the wall — a practising certificate for registered Chinese medicine practitioners, or a notice for listed Chinese medicine practitioners? (See the previous section; if you cannot see one, ask to be shown it.)
9. Is the medicine price quoted to me a fixed price or a "from" price? How are precious or special medicinal materials charged? (All three fee schedules leave an uncapped gap: the Chinese University's "from $80 a dose" plus a separate list for "special or additional medicinal materials"; the hospital's "from $90 per prescription per day" plus "over weight" charged by quantity used; and the University of Hong Kong's "an additional clinical service charge applies".)
10. I am on CSSA or the Disability Allowance, or I am an elderly person — is there a waiver here, and how much? (The Chinese University restricts it by branch and by frequency, and Pok Oi publishes no amount; both have to be asked.)

As for whether you should have acupuncture or tui na, or how many doses of medicine to take, this article does not answer — those are for your attending Chinese medicine practitioner to decide on your circumstances.

#Frequently asked questions

Is a subsidised outpatient consultation at the hospital always $180?

No. A general outpatient consultation is $180 a visit; a specialty outpatient consultation is $250 in the first year (standard $280), and the post-stroke and low back pain disease-specific programmes launched in July 2026 run through the specialty outpatient clinic. The specialty outpatient clinic is also not walk-in: you have to be assessed first at the general outpatient clinic, or upload a referral letter from a registered Chinese medicine practitioner, a Western medicine doctor or another registered healthcare professional.

How many days of Chinese medicine does the $180 include?

Not one day. The $180 is the consultation fee; subsidised Chinese medicine is charged separately at $25 per prescription per day, and Chinese medicine preparations, decoction and delivery are expressly outside the subsidised scope and charged at market-oriented prices.

Is the medicine price on the fee schedule what I will actually pay?

It depends on whether the figure leaves an opening behind it, and all three published fee schedules do. The hospital's market-oriented track: the fee PDF prints "Chinese medicine $90 per prescription per day", but the hospital's own market-oriented fee summary and the annex to the press release of 22 July 2026 print "from $90 per prescription per day", and the same PDF also states that herbal pieces beyond 16 ingredients per prescription cost $3 more an ingredient and that "over weight" is charged by quantity used (no unit price published). The Chinese University's Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Centre: medicinal materials or granules "from $80 a dose", plus "special or additional medicinal materials" on another price list inside the clinic. The University of Hong Kong: the consultation fee does not include medicine, and there is a further note that "an additional clinical service charge applies, at the fee on the treatment order signed by the practitioner". That word "from" is a floor, not a price — when asking about price, ask directly whether it is fixed or a starting price. The subsidised track's Chinese medicine at $25 per prescription per day has no "from" and is a real number.

I have a fee waiver at the Hospital Authority — does it work at the Chinese Medicine Hospital too?

It cannot be assumed to. The government press release states that the hospital "is not a public hospital managed by the Hospital Authority under the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap. 113)"; it has a waiver list of its own (recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, holders of a level "0" residential care service voucher under the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly, and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above), and others in financial difficulty may apply to the hospital separately. Note that the Chinese and English texts differ on whether the Old Age Living Allowance has to be the Higher one, so ask before you go.

The district Chinese medicine clinics were renamed — is the one I used to go to still there?

Yes. From 1 July 2026 they all take the form "[district name] Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre", and the official notice states that daily operations, service arrangements and booking methods stay the same, that past medical records and information are unaffected, and that the clinics will not telephone anyone about the renaming or ask for any additional personal information.

How can Elderly Health Care Vouchers be used in Chinese medicine?

Government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services state expressly that "vouchers and discounts do not apply". But the unsubsidised general service published by Pok Oi Hospital's Sha Tin District clinic (consultation with 2 doses of Chinese medicine at $160, effective 2025-04-01) states that vouchers are accepted — so for an elderly voucher-holder, the dearer option is not necessarily the one that takes more cash out of pocket. Whether the Chinese Medicine Hospital takes vouchers is not stated in any official document, and this article draws no conclusion; call 3121 3121 to ask.

How do I tell a "registered" from a "listed" Chinese medicine practitioner?

Both are statutory categories under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, but with different thresholds and different identifying documents. The Chinese Medicine Council requires a registered practitioner to display a "practising certificate for registered Chinese medicine practitioners" in a conspicuous place in the clinic, and a listed practitioner to post a "notice for listed Chinese medicine practitioners". Listed practitioners are those who applied within the transitional window from 16 August to 30 December 2000, and none has been added since. The Department of Health has also said publicly that anyone in doubt about a practitioner's qualification may ask them to produce the relevant documentary proof.

#Notes: the official texts

[Note 1] Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, background page:

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is a hospital regulated by the Health Bureau and run on a public-private partnership model. In 2021 the government selected Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) as the "contractor" through a tender process, and in the same year HKBU registered a company limited by guarantee (the HKBU Chinese Medicine Hospital Limited) as the "operator", responsible for managing, operating and maintaining the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫醫院是一所由醫衞局監管的醫院，採用公私營合作模式營運。政府於2021年透過招標程序挑選香港浸會大學（浸大）作為「承辦機構」，同年浸大註冊一所擔保有限公司（即「浸大中醫醫院有限公司」）作為「營運機構」，負責管理、營運及保養香港中醫醫院。」

[Note 2] The same page:

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong Ordinance specifies and protects the Chinese name 「香港中醫醫院」 and the English name The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong at 1 Pak Shing Kok Road, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, the names to be used exclusively by that hospital. Anyone who uses those names without authorisation, or creates an association with them, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 3 (10,000 dollars). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「《香港中醫醫院條例》指明和保障位於新界將軍澳百勝角路1號的香港中醫醫院的中文名稱為「香港中醫醫院」，英文名稱為The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong，名稱將由該院專用。任何人未經授權而使用有關名稱或與之產生聯繫，即屬違法，一經定罪，可處第3級罰款（10,000元）。」

[Note 3] The three service models on the hospital's "unique features" page, in full:

Pure Chinese medicine services: Chinese medicine services rooted in Chinese medicine theory, using Chinese medicine diagnosis and a variety of treatments, embodying the characteristics and strengths of Chinese medicine treatment. Chinese-medicine-led services: healthcare services will be led by Chinese medicine, with the attending Chinese medicine practitioner responsible for diagnosis and treatment, and with Western medicine used as an adjunct at different stages as needed. Integrated Chinese-Western medicine services: in specified circumstances, a Chinese-medicine-led integrated Chinese-Western medical management plan will be used to achieve the expected healthcare outcome. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「純中醫服務：以中醫理論為本的中醫服務，採用中醫診斷及多樣化的治療，體現中醫治療的特點及優勢。」 「中醫為主的服務：醫療服務將以中醫為主，由主診中醫師負責診斷和治療，並按需要在不同階段以西醫藥作輔助。」 「中西醫協作服務：在特定情況，將採用以中醫為主的中西醫協作醫療管理方案，以取得預期的醫療成效。」

[Note 4] The development history on the hospital's background page:

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has long worked to promote the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, announcing as early as the 2014 Policy Address that a site in Tseung Kwan O would be reserved for the construction of Hong Kong's first Chinese medicine hospital. The government subsequently announced in the 2017 Policy Address that the Chinese medicine hospital would be built, and in 2021 obtained funding from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council to commence the works. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港特別行政區政府一直致力推動香港中醫藥的發展，早在《2014年施政報告》中宣布預留將軍澳的一幅土地用作興建香港首間中醫醫院。隨後，政府在《2017年施政報告》中宣布興建中醫醫院，並於2021年獲立法會財務委員會撥款開展工程。」

[Note 5] Government press release, 15 October 2025, the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau:

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is Hong Kong's first hospital providing mainly Chinese medicine services, a long-awaited flagship Chinese medicine project that will help further drive the high-quality, high-standard and all-round development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. Once open, the hospital can lead Hong Kong's Chinese medicine services from primary care into secondary and tertiary healthcare, bringing a major breakthrough for the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. I am delighted that the hospital is about to come into service, and I hope it will further establish a "Hong Kong model" of pure Chinese medicine, Chinese-medicine-led and integrated Chinese-Western clinical services, providing the public with more comprehensive Chinese medicine services. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫醫院是香港首間以中醫服務為主的醫院，是萬眾期待的中醫藥旗艦項目，將有助進一步推動本港中醫藥的高質量、高水平及全方位發展。醫院開院後可帶領香港中醫藥服務由基層醫療邁進第二和第三層醫療服務，為香港中醫藥發展帶來重大突破。我對醫院即將投入服務感到非常振奮，並期望醫院進一步建立純中醫、中醫為主及中西醫協作臨床服務的『香港模式』，為市民提供更全面的中醫藥服務。」

[Note 6] The government published the Blueprint for Chinese Medicine Development on 18 December 2025; Professor Lo Chung-mau:

The Blueprint is the government's first policy document published specifically on the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「《藍圖》是政府首份針對香港中醫藥發展而公布的政策文件。」

[Note 7] The hospital's fees page:

To demonstrate its commitment to public healthcare while promoting positive interaction with the market, the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong provides government-subsidised services and market-oriented services. The government provides a subsidy to the operator and requires the hospital to provide subsidised services to the Hong Kong public, so as to embody the government's commitment to the public's health. In setting the fee levels of subsidised services, market prices, the public's affordability and the cost of the services have been taken into account… Market-oriented services charge market prices, set at a sustainable price level and benchmarked against private market standards. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「為展現對公共醫療的承擔、同時促進與市場正面互動，香港中醫醫院提供政府資助服務及市場導向服務。」 「政府向營運機構提供資助，要求醫院提供資助服務給香港巿民，以體現政府對市民健康的𠄘擔。在釐定資助服務的收費水平，已考慮市場價格、市民的承擔能力及服務成本等因素…」 「市場導向服務收取市場價格，相關費用設定於可持續價格水平，並以私營市場標準作為基準。」

(「𠄘擔」 is the wording in the original and is reproduced as it stands.)

[Note 8] Government press release, 15 October 2025:

In devising the service fee model, the hospital has fully taken into account market prices, the public's affordability and the cost of the services, ensuring that the public can use the services at reasonable and affordable prices. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在制定服務收費模式時，醫院已充分考慮市場價格、市民的承擔能力以及服務成本等因素，確保市民可以合理及可負擔的價格享用服務。」

[Note 9] The same press release:

65 per cent of the overall service volume of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is government-subsidised service… eligible members of the Hong Kong public may all choose to use it. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫醫院整體服務量的百分之六十五為政府資助服務…合資格的香港市民均可選擇使用。」

[Note 10] The hospital's subsidised services page:

In the opening year, certain designated services will also be offered at a trial price of seventy to ninety per cent of the standard price (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「於開業首年，部分指定服務更會提供原價七折至九折的體驗價」

The market-oriented services page:

In the opening year, certain designated services will also be offered at a trial price of eighty to ninety per cent of the standard price (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「於開業首年，部分指定服務更會提供原價八折至九折的體驗價」

[Note 11] Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong press release, 4 July 2026:

Demand for government-subsidised outpatient services and market-oriented outpatient services exceeds supply (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「政府資助門診及市場導向門診服務供不應求」

After the fourth increase in outpatient service quota, the overall outpatient service volume for the first year after opening is expected to exceed 140 000 attendances (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在第四度增加門診服務名額後，預計開院後首年的全年整體門診服務量將超過14萬人次」

[Note 12] Government press release, 15 October 2025:

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong is a hospital regulated by the Health Bureau, and is not a public hospital managed by the Hospital Authority under the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap. 113). The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong Ordinance (Cap. 655), which came into effect in the 5th month of this year, ensures the smooth daily operation of the hospital. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫醫院是一所由醫衞局監管的醫院，並非《醫院管理局條例》（第113章）下由醫院管理局管理的公營醫院。今年五月生效的《香港中醫醫院條例》（第655章）確保醫院日常運作暢順。」

[Note 13] The Hospital Authority's English text:

the Hospital Authority (HA) establishes a second safety net by introducing a HK$10,000 cap on an eligible patient's annual spending for specified public medical fees and charges without requiring financial assessment with effect from 1 January 2026.

The Chinese text:

「由2026年1月1日起，醫院管理局（醫管局）於醫療費用減免機制外，建立第二層安全網，為合資格病人設立無需經濟審查的每年一萬港元公營醫療服務費用上限–「全年收費上限」。」

[Note 14] The hospital's subsidised services page:

The hospital also has a medical fee waiver mechanism; patients granted a full waiver of medical fees include recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, holders of a residential care service voucher at level "0" under the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly, and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「醫院亦設有醫療費用減免機制，獲全額減免醫療費用的病人，包括綜合社會保障援助受助人、長者院舍照顧服務券計劃級別‘0’的院舍券持有人，以及75歲或以上長者生活津貼受惠人。」

The press release adds:

As for other patients in financial difficulty who cannot afford the cost of healthcare services, they may also apply to the hospital for a fee waiver. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「至於其他有經濟困難而未能負擔醫療服務費用的病人，也可向醫院申請費用減免。」

[Note 15] Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong:

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong will waive medical fees for the victims of the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po. All residents of the eight blocks of Wang Fuk Court (including foreign domestic helpers) and anyone injured in that fire who was taken to a public hospital under the Hospital Authority may have a full waiver of the medical fees of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong until 31 December 2026, covering all government-subsidised services of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, including the general outpatient clinic, the specialty outpatient clinic, the integrated allied health outpatient clinic, day inpatient care, special Western medicine diagnostic procedures and medication (discharge dispensing). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫醫院會為大埔宏福苑火災災民提供醫療費用豁免。宏福苑共八座樓宇的所有居民（包括外籍家庭傭工）以及因該火災受傷而曾送往醫院管理局轄下公立醫院的傷者，均可享有香港中醫醫院全額醫療費用豁免安排至二○二六年十二月三十一日，涵蓋香港中醫醫院所有政府資助服務，包括全科門診、分科門診、綜合專職醫療門診、日間住院、特項西醫診斷程序及藥物（出院取藥）。」

[Note 16] Hospital Authority "CMK" renaming notice:

To tie in with the government's Chinese medicine policy, from 1 July 2026 (Wednesday) the 18 district Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres (Chinese medicine clinics) will be named uniformly by district, the new name being "[district name] Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre", so as to reflect more clearly a district-based positioning and direction of development in serving the public. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「為配合政府中醫藥政策，由2026年7月1日（星期三）起，18區中醫診所暨教研中心（中醫診所）將統一以地區命名，新名稱為「［地區名稱］中醫診所暨教研中心」，以更清晰反映以地區為本、服務市民的定位及發展方向。」

After the renaming, the daily operations, service arrangements and booking methods of the Chinese medicine clinics will stay the same. Patients' past medical records and information will not be affected, and the Chinese medicine clinics will not telephone anyone about the renaming or ask members of the public for any additional personal information. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「改名後，中醫診所的日常運作、服務安排及預約方法會維持不變。求診者過往的醫療紀錄及資料均不會受影響，中醫診所亦不會就更名致電或要求市民提供任何額外個人資料。」

[Note 17] Hospital Authority "CMK":

To promote the professional development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and the training of talent, Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres (Chinese medicine clinics) have been established in all 18 districts, operated on a tripartite collaboration model by the Hospital Authority, non-governmental organisations and local universities, with the non-governmental organisations responsible for daily operations. The Chinese medicine clinics were repositioned in March 2020 so that, besides their original teaching and research functions, they also serve as district Chinese medicine clinics providing government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services. At the same time, the Chinese medicine clinics continue to provide non-government-subsidised Chinese medicine services (tianjiu and expert consultations, for example), giving the public more choice of services. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「為推動香港中醫藥的專業發展和人才培訓，全港18區均設立中醫診所暨教研中心（中醫診所），由醫院管理局、非政府機構和本地大學以三方協作模式營運，由非政府機構負責日常運作。中醫診所在2020年3月重新定位，除肩負原有「教」與「研」…的職能外，亦作為地區中醫診所提供政府資助中醫門診服務。同時，中醫診所亦繼續提供非政府資助中醫服務（例如天灸、專家診療等），為市民提供更多的服務選擇。」

[Note 18] The scope of service on the Hospital Authority's "government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services" (the source page lists this as two separate elements, a table heading and an explanation; the meaning is unchanged and they are quoted together here):

Internal medicine (including the consultation fee and, as clinically needed, no more than five doses of Chinese medicine) / Acupuncture / Bone-setting or tui na (at some clinics) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「內科（包括診金及按臨床需要包不多於五劑中藥）」 「針灸」 「骨傷/推拿 (於部分診所)」

[Note 19] The same page, service fees:

• Each service is set at HK$120 a visit • Every patient must produce the original of a valid identity document, for verification of their status as an eligible Hong Kong resident • Recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and recipients of the Old Age Living Allowance aged 75 or above must, at each registration, produce the original of a valid identity document and the original of a valid notification of assistance issued by the Social Welfare Department (examples below); once eligibility is verified, the fee for government-subsidised Chinese medicine services is waived: • Vouchers and discounts do not apply to government-subsidised Chinese medicine services (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「• 每項服務每次收費定為港幣120元」 「• 所有求診人必須出示有效的身份證明文件正本作核實其合資格香港居民身份之用」 「• 綜合社會保障援助（綜援）受助人及75歲或以上的長者生活津貼受惠人於每次登記掛號時，必須出示有效的身份證明文件正本及由社會福利署發出之有效受助通知書正本（例子如下），核實資格後便可豁免政府資助中醫服務的收費：」 「• 醫療券或折扣均不適用於政府資助中醫服務」

[Note 20] Legislative Council written reply, 8 November 2023:

A total of 800 000 service quotas for the year are distributed evenly among the 18 Chinese medicine clinics. Generally, half of each Chinese medicine clinic's service quota is allocated to bookings by patients with episodic illness and the other half to follow-up patients. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「全年合共80萬個服務籌額平均分配予18區中醫診所。一般而言，每間中醫診所的服務籌額一半會分配予偶發性疾病病人預約，而另一半則分配予覆診病人。」

[Note 21] Government press release, 15 October 2025:

The funding arrangements for subsidised services, teaching and training and research projects, and the setting of overall service fees, are all carried out in accordance with the service contract signed between the government and the contractor and the operator. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「資助服務、教學培訓及科研項目的撥款安排，以及整體服務收費的釐定，均按照政府與承辦機構及營運機構簽訂的服務契約執行。」

[Note 22] The opening-day press release:

A member of the public wishing to book a specialty outpatient service may first book a general outpatient consultation for assessment, or upload directly a referral letter from a registered Chinese medicine practitioner, a Western medicine doctor or another registered healthcare professional (a nurse, pharmacist or allied health professional, for example). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「如市民欲預約分科門診服務，可先預約全科門診以作評估，或直接上傳註冊中醫師、西醫或其他註冊專業醫療人員（例如護士、藥劑師及專職醫療人員）的轉介信。」

[Note 23] Note 2 to the subsidised medication fee PDF:

The cost of Chinese medicine preparations, decoction service and delivery is not within the scope of subsidised services. For details of those services, please refer to the market-oriented service fees or ask our staff. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「中藥製劑、代煎及配送費用並不在資助服務範圍內。如需了解該類服務及詳情，請參閱市場導向服務收費內容或向本院職員查詢。」

[Note 24] The subsidised special Western medicine procedures fee schedule:

Tier II (for example: computed tomography with contrast — neck, chest, upper abdomen, lower abdomen; magnetic resonance imaging — neck, chest, upper abdomen, lower abdomen) $1,000 (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「第 II 層（例如︰電腦掃描加顯影 — 頸部、胸部、上腹部、下腹部; 磁力共振掃描 — 頸部、胸部、上腹部、下腹部）$1,000」

[Note 25] The opening-day press release of 11 December 2025, quoting Professor Lo Chung-mau:

Besides the subsidised outpatient services, patients may also book non-subsidised outpatient services and choose the specific Chinese medicine practitioner they wish to see (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「除資助門診服務外，病人亦可以預約非資助門診服務，自選指定中醫師診治」

[Note 26] The hospital's note on the market-oriented estimate for day inpatient care:

The estimated cost includes accommodation, Chinese medicine consultation, Western medicine specialist consultation, integrated Chinese medicine treatment, oral Chinese medicine and integrated allied health, among others. The estimate is for reference only; the actual cost is adjusted according to the patient's clinical needs, such as the specific treatment items, imaging examinations and pathological laboratory tests. Healthcare staff will communicate with the patient or family according to the actual situation. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「估算費用包括：住房費用、中醫診症費用、西醫專科診症費用、中醫綜合治療、內服中藥及綜合專職醫療等。估算僅供參考，實際費用按病人臨床需要調整，如具體治療項目、影像檢查及病理化驗檢查等。醫護人員將按實際情況與病人或家屬溝通。」

[Note 27] Hospital Authority, "government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services": 「醫療券或折扣均不適用於政府資助中醫服務」 — vouchers and discounts do not apply to government-subsidised Chinese medicine services (our translation from the Chinese original). Pok Oi Hospital, Sha Tin District Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre clinic page (fees effective from 1 April 2025), on government-subsidised Chinese medicine services:

Consultation fee 120 dollars a visit (the service is for eligible Hong Kong residents; vouchers and discounts do not apply) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「診療費每次 120 元（服務對象為合資格的香港居民，醫療券或折扣均不適用）」

The outpatient services on the same page:

General: consultation fee with 2 doses of Chinese medicine, 160 dollars a visit / General – expert consultation: consultation fee with 2 doses of Chinese medicine, 300 dollars a visit / Acupuncture or bone-setting: consultation fee 230 dollars a visit / Acupuncture or bone-setting – expert consultation: 360 dollars a visit (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「普通科：診金連 2 劑中藥每次 160 元」 「普通科 - 專家門診：診金連 2 劑中藥每次 300 元」 「針灸科/骨傷科：診療費每次 230 元」 「針灸科/骨傷科 - 專家門診：診療費每次 360 元」

with 「可使用醫療券」 — vouchers accepted — stated on the same page. The small print on the same page:

• This hospital offers concessions on Chinese medicine to elderly persons and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; please ask our staff for details. (This hospital reserves the right to review and revise its fees periodically) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「* 本院為長者和綜援人士提供中醫藥優惠，詳情請向職員查詢。」 「(本院保留定期檢討及修訂收費的權力)」

[Note 28] Legislative Council panel paper, 14 March 2025: as at the end of 2024 a total of 4 551 Chinese medicine practitioners were enrolled in the voucher scheme; in 2024 elderly people made over 5.2 million claim transactions totalling about 33億4千6百萬元.

Of those, the number of transactions and the amount claimed by Chinese medicine practitioners were about 2.16 million transactions (about 41.4% of the total) and 12億2千8百萬元 (about 36.7% of the total). Both by number of claim transactions and by amount, they ranked second among the 14 categories of Hong Kong healthcare professionals. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「當中由中醫師申領的交易宗數和金額分別約為 216 萬宗（約佔總數的 41.4%）和 12 億 2 千 8 百萬元（約佔總數的 36.7%）。申領交易宗數和金額均為 14 類香港醫護專業人員中第二位」

[Note 29] Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong, list of registered Chinese medicine practitioners page:

A registered Chinese medicine practitioner may use the titles 「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫」, 「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫師」, 「註冊中醫」 and 「註冊中醫師」. A registered Chinese medicine practitioner must display a practising certificate for registered Chinese medicine practitioners in a conspicuous place at the place of practice or the clinic, so that the public can identify them. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「註冊中醫可使用「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫」、「香港中醫藥管理委員會註冊中醫師」、「註冊中醫」及「註冊中醫師」名銜。註冊中醫須於執業處所或診所內明顯的地方展示註冊中醫執業證明書，以便市民識別。」

[Note 30] The same Council's list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners page, in full:

A listed Chinese medicine practitioner may use the titles 「表列中醫」 and 「表列中醫師」. A listed Chinese medicine practitioner must post a notice for listed Chinese medicine practitioners in the clinic, so that the public can identify them. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「表列中醫可使用「表列中醫」及「表列中醫師」名銜。表列中醫須在診所張貼表列中醫通知書，以便市民識別。」

[Note 31] The same Council's transitional arrangements page:

Under section 90 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, a Chinese medicine practitioner who was practising in Hong Kong on 3 January 2000 could, through the transitional arrangements for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners, apply to the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong between 16 August 2000 and 30 December 2000 to become a "listed Chinese medicine practitioner"… The list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners was published in the Gazette of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 21 December 2001 and is carried on this website. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「根據《中醫藥條例》第90條，在2000年1月3日正在香港執業的中醫師，可循中醫註冊過渡性安排，在2000年8月16日至2000年12月30日期間，向香港中醫藥管理委員會中醫組提出申請成為“表列中醫”…表列中醫名單已於2001年12月21日刊登於香港特區政府憲報及載於本網頁內。」

[Note 32] The same Council:

Under section 67 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, the following persons may apply to the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board to become registered Chinese medicine practitioners: 1. a person who has passed the Licensing Examination; 2. or a listed Chinese medicine practitioner whom the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board has decided is eligible to apply for registration under the transitional arrangements for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「根據《中醫藥條例》第67條的規定，以下人士可向中醫組申請成為註冊中醫：1. 已在執業資格試考取合格的人；2. 或根據中醫註冊過渡性安排，獲中醫組決定有資格申請註冊的表列中醫。」

[Note 33] Department of Health press release, 18 July 2025:

Before receiving tianjiu, members of the public should first confirm the service provider's qualification as a Chinese medicine practitioner… Anyone in doubt about the practising qualification of a Chinese medicine practitioner in Hong Kong may ask the person to produce the relevant documentary proof. The lists of registered and listed Chinese medicine practitioners have been uploaded to the website of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (www.cmchk.org.hk) for public inspection. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「市民在接受天灸療法前，應先確認服務提供者的中醫師資格…市民如對香港中醫的執業資格有疑慮，可要求有關人士出示相關證明文件。註冊及表列中醫名單已上載至香港中醫藥管理委員會網頁（www.cmchk.org.hk），供公眾查閱。」

[Note 34] Health Bureau Legislative Council reply, 8 November 2023:

The resources of Hong Kong's Chinese medicine sector are also mainly concentrated in the private sector, which provides about ten million Chinese medicine outpatient attendances a year. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「香港中醫藥界的資源亦主要集中在私營界別，每年大約有一千萬人次的中醫門診服務由私營界別提供。」

[Note 35] The University of Hong Kong School of Chinese Medicine, "fees and appointment services" page:

From 1 April 2026, the consultation fees at the Central Clinical Centre and the Sassoon Road Specialist Clinical Centre of the School of Chinese Medicine of the University of Hong Kong are adjusted as follows (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「自 2026年4月1日起，香港大學中醫藥學院中區臨床教研中心及沙宣道專科臨床教研中心診金調整如下」

The discount terms:

Current students of the University of Hong Kong, full-time staff and their immediate family, and members of the public holding a Senior Citizen Card or a JoyYou Card (aged 65 or above) all enjoy a twenty per cent discount (excluding the cost of medicine and treatment) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在讀香港大學學生、全職教職員及直系家屬、持有長者咭或樂悠卡(須65歲或以上) 市民均享有八折優惠(藥費及治療費除外)」

Another note:

An additional clinical service charge applies, at the fee on the treatment order signed by the practitioner. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「另加臨床服務額外收費，以醫師簽名的治療單收費為準。」

[Note 36] Three lines on the Chinese University of Hong Kong Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Centre's fee table:

• Medicinal materials or granules — from $80 a dose / * Decoction fee — $20 a dose (2 packets a dose) (minimum 3 doses each time) / Special or additional medicinal materials — please refer to the special or additional medicinal materials price list inside the clinic (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「*中藥材/顆粒 — 每劑$80起」 「*煎藥費 — 每劑$20 (每劑2包) (每次最少3劑)」 「特別用藥/額外藥材 — 請參看診所內特別用藥/額外藥材價目表」

Note (2) on the same page:

Additional treatment items (cupping and plum-blossom needling, for example) and precious medicinal materials (chuanbei and ginseng, for example) are charged separately; for details, ask the attending practitioner or the registration counter. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「額外治療項目(例如拔罐、梅花針等)及名貴藥材(例如川貝、人參等)，需另行收費，詳情可向主診醫師或登記處查詢。」

[Note 37] Note (3) on the same page:

On attending, a person who produces a valid follow-up slip from a hospital under the Hospital Authority (that is, with a follow-up date within the period from one year before to three years after the day of consultation) and documentary proof of eligibility for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme or the Disability Allowance may obtain a waiver of the general consultation fee, with a 10% waiver on other fees (this concession applies only to the Sha Tin and Wan Chai clinics, and may be used once per person per day). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「求診時，如出示醫管局轄下醫院有效之覆診紙 (即覆診期為診症當天 之一年前及三年後期間) 及 合資格領取綜合社會保障援助計劃或傷殘津貼 證明文件之人士，可獲全科診金減免，其他費用可獲10%減免 (此優惠只適用於沙田及灣仔診所，每人每日只可用一次)。」

#Matters on which this article makes no statement

• The Chinese Medicine Hospital's inpatient (24-hour) fees: not published. The reason has been stated by the Health Bureau — inpatient services will mainly begin in the second year (press release of 15 October 2025) — and on 4 July 2026 the hospital said it was preparing for "the 24-hour inpatient service beginning in December this year". This article does not describe that as an omission or a delay.
• Whether the Chinese Medicine Hospital takes Elderly Health Care Vouchers: the fee PDFs, the fees page, the FAQ page (currently the whole page reads "to be announced") and both opening press releases make no mention of it. This article draws no conclusion either way.
• Figures for the utilisation (population penetration) of Chinese medicine services: the relevant Census and Statistics Department thematic household survey report has not been used, and this article cites no penetration percentage.
• The text of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap. 549): not read. The content of sections 53, 67, 69, 85 and 90 cited here all comes from the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong's own web pages. Those five are the sections the Council itself cites on the relevant pages, not a continuous or complete list — there are gaps between the section numbers (section 68, for instance) that those Council pages never mention, and this article does not speculate about the content of sections it has not cited.
• When the first-year trial prices end: no issuing body has published an end date. Every fee PDF closes with "the above fees are for reference only; the hospital's latest announcement governs".
• What "consultant Chinese medicine practitioner" and "senior Chinese medicine practitioner" represent in terms of experience: no published document defines them. This article gives only the prices.
• How "eligible" is defined for the Chinese Medicine Hospital's subsidised services: the subsidised services page says only that eligible members of the Hong Kong public may all choose to use subsidised services, without listing categories or conditions; the market-oriented services page states no eligibility condition. This article does not use the Hospital Authority's eligibility definition to fill that gap.
• The unit price for "over weight" Chinese medicine on the hospital's market-oriented track: the fee schedule says "charged by quantity used" with the note "please ask our staff for details", and publishes no amount. This article records only that it exists.
• The prices for "special or additional medicinal materials" at the Chinese University's Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Centre: the fees page tells the reader to "refer to the special or additional medicinal materials price list inside the clinic"; that list is not published online and this article has not seen it.
• The amount of the University of Hong Kong's "additional clinical service charge": the fees page says only "at the fee on the treatment order signed by the practitioner", and publishes no amount or range.
• Unsubsidised fees at the district clinics: only the published prices of one operating organisation, Pok Oi Hospital, have been cited (the Sha Tin District clinic page, effective 2025-04-01). The other nine operating organisations each set their own prices, and this article has not cited them.
• Prices for the Chinese Medicine Hospital's "treatment and body check programmes": the hospital's services page promotes them, but the "programmes" page under market-oriented services has no content (2026-08-01).
• Depth of the English material: the hospital's press release of 4 July 2026 exists only in Chinese (the English page says "Please refer to Traditional Chinese version."); the English introduction page of the Hospital Authority's "CMK" is an unedited machine translation, and English versions of equivalent depth could not be found.

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#Further reading

• On this platform: Tianjiu moxibustion

This article is health information and is not medical advice.

#Sources

• Hospital Authority "Annual Spending Cap (For Eligible Persons)", effective 1 January 2026 — cited here for the annual cap of ten thousand Hong Kong dollars without means testing, for contrast; that arrangement belongs to the system of public hospitals under the Hospital Authority and does not apply to the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong. Chinese page: https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_view_content.asp?Content_ID=281820&Lang=CHIB5&Dimension=100&Ver=HTML (this link currently returns a 302 redirect; re-checked 2026-08-09, and the content of the redirected page is consistent with what is cited here); English page: https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_view_content.asp?Content_ID=281820&Lang=ENG&Dimension=100&Ver=HTML. Both retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Hospital Authority, "Fees and Charges" (the fee schedule effective 1 January 2026; cited here for the existence of the fee waiver mechanism): https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_view_content.asp?Content_ID=10045&Lang=CHIB5&Dimension=100&Ver=HTML (this link currently returns a 302 redirect; re-checked 2026-08-09, and the content of the redirected page is consistent with what is cited here), retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Fees and Charges" (the principles of the two fee tracks, and the "has taken into account" wording on subsidised fee levels): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/fees_and_charges/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Government-subsidised services" (eligibility, the three categories of fee waiver, the seventy to ninety per cent first-year trial price): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/fees_and_charges/subsidised_services/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong subsidised service fee PDFs: "General outpatient / specialty outpatient / integrated allied health outpatient", "Day inpatient", "Special Western medicine diagnostic and treatment procedures", "Medication (discharge dispensing)", VER V01, effective 2025-12-11, obtained via https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/fees_and_charges/subsidised_services/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Market-oriented services" and its fee PDFs: "Consultation", "Chinese medicine treatment" (including the five other Chinese medicine treatments), "Chinese and Western medicines", "Day inpatient", "Integrated allied health services", "Nursing procedures", "Magnetic resonance imaging", "Application for a medical report or a copy of medical records", VER V01, effective 2025-12-11: https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/fees_and_charges/Add-On_Market_Oriented_Services/, retrieved 2026-08-01. The same page also carries a summary image of the market-oriented fee schedule (cited here for "Chinese and Western medicines — Chinese medicine — from $90 per prescription per day" and note 1, "charged by category of Chinese medicine practitioner: senior Chinese medicine practitioner / consultant Chinese medicine practitioner"): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/upload/addon/30/doc2/市場導向服務收費表.jpg, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Background" (the development history from 2014 to 2025, the public-private partnership model, the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong Ordinance (Cap. 655) and the penalty for exclusive use of the name, and the teaching hospital of three local universities): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/about_us/background/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Unique features" (the three service models of pure Chinese medicine, Chinese-medicine-led and integrated Chinese-Western medicine; the 23 specified conditions): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/about_us/unique_features/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong, "Hospital information" (address, telephone, opening hours, floor guide, location of the private outpatient clinic): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/about_us/Introduction/, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong press release, "The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong launches its first round of Chinese-medicine-led integrated Chinese-Western disease-specific programmes" (specialty outpatient subsidised Chinese medicine consultation $250, the market-oriented day inpatient estimate of $2,650–$5,370 a session, market-oriented Chinese medicine from $90 per prescription per day, and the post-stroke and low back pain programmes): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/news_and_announcement/press_release/special_disease_programmes_launch/, 2026-07-22, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong press release, "The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong increases outpatient service quota for the fourth time" (demand exceeding supply, the fourth increase in quota, over 140 000 attendances in the first year, 13,000 to 17,000 attendances a month, preparation for the 24-hour inpatient service, and quota increases requiring Health Bureau approval): https://www.cmhhk.org.hk/tc/news_and_announcement/press_release/CMHHK_again_increased_no_of_quotas_for_outpatient_services/, 2026-07-04, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Government press release, "The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong to come into service in phases from 11 December" (the "has fully taken into account… fee model" wording, the 65% of service volume, the Secretary's statement on the hospital's development positioning, that it is not a Hospital Authority public hospital, the scope of services, 25 beds, inpatient services beginning in the second year, 400 beds and 400 000 attendances a year by 2030, fees set by the service contract, and other patients in financial difficulty being able to apply for a waiver): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202510/15/P2025101500294.htm, 2025-10-15, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Government press release, "The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong comes into service today and will increase subsidised general outpatient quota in the first month in response to keen demand" (non-subsidised outpatient services allowing a specific practitioner to be chosen, the specialty outpatient clinic requiring the general outpatient clinic or a referral letter, and the fee waiver for Wang Fuk Court fire victims to 2026-12-31): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202512/11/P2025121100317.htm, 2025-12-11, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Government press release, "Government publishes the Blueprint for Chinese Medicine Development" (the first Chinese medicine policy document, five areas, eight goals and 20 actions): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202512/18/P2025121800499.htm, 2025-12-18, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Hospital Authority "CMK", "Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres" (the tripartite collaboration model, the repositioning in March 2020, tianjiu as a non-government-subsidised service): https://cmk.ha.org.hk/zh-cht/about/about-service, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Hospital Authority "CMK", "Government-subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient services" ($120 a visit, internal medicine including no more than five doses of Chinese medicine, the three categories of service target, vouchers not applying, waivers and the documents required, booking and lateness rules, the 2018 Policy Address, and quota rising from 600 000 to 800 000): https://cmk.ha.org.hk/zh-cht/services/GovtSubsidisedCMServices, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Hospital Authority "CMK", "Uniform naming arrangement for the 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres" (uniform district naming from 2026-07-01, operations unchanged, no telephone calls or requests for additional personal information, the 18 districts' old and new names and telephone numbers, and the ten operating organisations): https://cmk.ha.org.hk/zh-cht/services/notice/CMCTR_renaming, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Legislative Council written reply (LCQ3), the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee (the tripartite collaboration model, the 800 000 quotas distributed evenly with half for episodic patients, about 2 900 quotas a day, about ten million private Chinese medicine outpatient attendances a year, and the 2022 Chinese medicine voucher claims of 約8億5千多萬元 over 約165萬宗): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202311/08/P2023110800350.htm, 2023-11-08, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Legislative Council Panel on Health Services paper CB(3)302/2025(03) (the tripartite collaboration model; about 1.6 million total attendances at the district clinics in 2024; 4 551 Chinese medicine practitioners enrolled in the voucher scheme as at the end of 2024 and the 2024 claim transactions and amounts): https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr2025/chinese/panels/hs/papers/hs20250314cb3-302-3-c.pdf, 2025-03-14, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Legislative Council Panel on Health Services background brief CB(3)101/2026(04) (the division of policy responsibility; integrated Chinese-Western medicine at 26 public hospitals, 67 service points and 6 designated disease programmes; "more than ten thousand Chinese medicine practitioners is already sufficient"; 3 universities offering 6-year undergraduate programmes; subsidised Chinese medicine outpatient demand exceeding supply): https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr2026/chinese/panels/hs/papers/hs20260213cb3-101-4-c.pdf, 2026-02-06, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong, "List of registered Chinese medicine practitioners" (sections 53, 69 and 85; the titles of registered practitioners and the requirement to display the practising certificate): https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/main_rdoctor_choice.htm; "List of listed Chinese medicine practitioners" (the titles of listed practitioners and the requirement to post the notice): https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/main_ldoctor_choice.htm; the corresponding English page https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/eng/main_ldoctor_choice.htm; "Registration of Chinese medicine practitioners" (the two routes under section 67): https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/main_rcmp01.htm; "Transitional arrangements for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners" (section 90, 2000-01-03, the application window from 2000-08-16 to 2000-12-30, and the gazette of 2001-12-21): https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/main_rcmp09.htm. Online search entrances: registered practitioners https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/cmp_search.php?t=rdoctor, practitioners with limited registration https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/cmp_search.php?t=rldoctor, listed practitioners https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/cmp_search.php?t=ldoctor; main directory https://www.cmchk.org.hk/cmp/chi/. All retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Government press release, "Department of Health reminds the public that tianjiu should be performed by qualified Chinese medicine practitioners" (tianjiu as a kind of moxibustion, sanfu tianjiu, the sanfu dates in 2025, those for whom it is unsuitable, and the entitlement to ask for documentary proof): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202507/18/P2025071800337.htm, 2025-07-18, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Department of Health, Health Facts of Hong Kong, 2025 edition (at the end of 2024: registered Chinese medicine practitioners 8 575, practitioners with limited registration 37, listed practitioners 2 079, doctors 16 533): https://www.dh.gov.hk/tc_chi/statistics/statistics_hs/files/2025.pdf, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• The University of Hong Kong School of Chinese Medicine, "Fees and appointment services" (from 2026-04-01, four grades of consultation fee at $800 / $600 / $500 / $350, the consultation fee not including medicine, a decoction fee of $20 a dose, the four-item list for the twenty per cent discount, the ten per cent discount for graduates, and "an additional clinical service charge applies, at the fee on the treatment order signed by the practitioner"): https://scm.hku.hk/Views/Clinical/ClinicalBooking.html, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Centre, "Service hours and fees" (four price bands from $140 to $1,000 for general Chinese medicine, $250 to $1,190 for acupuncture and bone-setting, medicinal materials or granules from $80 a dose, a decoction fee of $20 a dose at 2 packets a dose and a minimum of 3 doses each time, special or additional medicinal materials to be checked on the price list inside the clinic, actual fees adjusted on the practitioner's clinical judgement, additional treatment items and precious medicinal materials charged separately, and note (3) on the follow-up slip plus CSSA or Disability Allowance proof giving a waiver of the general consultation fee and a 10 per cent waiver on other fees, limited to the Sha Tin and Wan Chai clinics and once per person per day): https://hkiim.cuhk.edu.hk/imc/tc/pricing, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Hong Kong Baptist University Chinese Medicine Clinic network (16 clinics; no fees page in the site navigation): https://cmc.hkbu.edu.hk/content/cmc/zh-hk.html, retrieved 2026-08-01.
• Pok Oi Hospital, "Sha Tin District Chinese Medicine Clinic cum Training and Research Centre" (the government-subsidised $120 and vouchers not applying; unsubsidised general consultation with 2 doses of Chinese medicine $160, general expert consultation $300, acupuncture or bone-setting $230, acupuncture or bone-setting expert consultation $360, additional dispensing $70 a dose, decoction fee $20 a dose, vouchers accepted, "this hospital offers concessions on Chinese medicine to elderly persons and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; please ask our staff for details", and the hospital reserving the right to review and revise fees periodically; fees effective 2025-04-01): https://cms.pokoi.org.hk/clinic_information/clinic_details/3, retrieved 2026-08-01.