Researchers from the University of Hong Kong said on Wednesday the government should roll out more policies to assist residents seeking healthcare across the border.

The comments came after a study by the university revealed that around 60 percent of Hong Kong residents had gone up north for healthcare services after 2019, up from less than 6 percent before 2011.

Dentistry and optometry services were the most sought after due to lower costs in the mainland and lack of insurance coverage in Hong Kong, researchers found.

Another trend that also stood out was that those suffering from diseases crossed the border for services instead of putting up with long queues for public-sector consultations.

The study, carried out between May 2022 and May this year, polled 3,500 residents living in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou and interviewed some 200 people – residents, healthcare professionals and government officials in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Professor He Shenjing, who led the research team, said the trend would continue with more people opting for mainland healthcare services in the future.

"If they [Hong Kong residents] find out that these places can also provide very good quality health care, definitely people will be attracted to those places," she said.

"So I would assume this trend will not stop. On the contrary, they will attract more and more Hong Kong people, not just for one-day visits or for tourism, for shopping, for one time, one-off healthcare [consultations], but also could attract more elderly to spend their post-retirement life in the mainland."

One suggestion, He said, is for the government to develop a reliable platform so the people of Hong Kong can identify and select which services suit them most.

"They [Hong Kong residents] are not used to these kind of services, the way to access healthcare services in mainland yet. So they feel very frustrated or confused [about] what is the best way to make appointments and where to find the most suitable healthcare," He said.

"Developing a more transparent and reliable, authentic information platform can facilitate Hong Kong residents to find the most suitable and affordable healthcare that can fulfil their needs."

The academic said the administration can also introduce a dedicated policy framework to govern cross-border healthcare coverage from quality control to data sharing.