“Whole Genome Sequencing” can help clinicians diagnose, understand and treat diseases, and your medical records are a crucial and accurate source of information about your medical condition. To enable the Project team to carry out analysis in understanding the relationship between genome and disease, they have to refer to both your health condition and genomic data.
HKGP is a long-term project, and the health conditions of participants will change over time. These changes may bring new research insights, so the Project team needs participants’ medical records at different time points for sustained analysis.
After obtaining your consent, the Project team will, when necessary, access and analyse your medical records in the Hospital Authority and Clinical Genetic Service, Department of Health, including:
- Records of hospitalisation or clinic visits;
- Clinical records and laboratory test results; and
- Radiology and imaging records such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, X-rays or clinical photos, etc.
Moreover, if necessary, the Project team will contact you to collect more information, such as your health records kept at other medical institutions. The Project team will explain and invite you to sign extra consent forms if needed. You may decide at that time if you wish to provide additional Information.
If you withdraw from the Project, the Project team will stop accessing your medical records.