Hospital Authority Electronic Medical Certificate

With effect from 6 March 2023, all medical certificates (commonly known as sick leave certificates) issued by HA fully adopt digital signature with electronic version, to replace the traditional manually signed paper certificates.

The new version of the medical certificate adopts digital signature without requiring doctor to sign manually. The digital signature is of the same legal effect as traditional manual signature. Same as the manually signed traditional paper medial certificate, the digitally signed medical certificate includes patient’s name and the information relevant to the consultation.

The electronic certificate will be automatically stored in “My Record” under the HA mobile application HA Go feature “MyHealth”. Patients can use it for sick leave application or proof of consultation. For those patients issued with an attendance certificate, the electronic version will also be stored in HA Go. There is an encrypted QR code on the electronic medical certificate. By scanning the QR code and inputting the patient’s name and the sick leave date, the electronic medical certificate can be verified if necessary.

HA encourages patient to opt for electronic certificates in future. However, HA will continue to print out the paper medical certificate with digital signature, and attendance certificate for patients.

The digitisation of medical certificate is an important milestone in the development of smart hospital. It streamlines the process of tele-health service so as to enable HA to enhance patient satisfaction. Electronic certificates can reduce the risk of losing the paper certificate. It is easy for patient to access thus giving patient a better experience. Also, in future, if a patient is granted sick leave after tele-consultation, the patient will receive an electronic medical certificate immediately. It is more convenient that the patient does not need to return to hospital or clinic for obtaining the certificate.