Digital platform-led cross-border healthcare services for Hong Kong older adults in the Greater Bay Area: Regional integration in the digital age

While the relationship between infrastructure and regional integration has been extensively examined, the role of digital platforms as a new mode of infrastructure in cross-border regions remains underexplored. Existing research has largely focused on sectors like e-commerce and telecommunications, leaving a significant gap in understanding how digital healthcare platforms have transformed regional integration in the digital age. This paper argues that there emerges a “digital turn” in regional integration and develops an analytical framework grounded in infrastructural regionalism to investigate how digital healthcare platforms are reshaping cross-border healthcare services for Hong Kong older adults in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in southern China. Drawing on on-site interviews and focus group discussions with Hong Kong older adults' residents in Shenzhen, this paper sheds light on the pivotal role of digital platforms like the e-Health app in facilitating cross-border healthcare access. The study argues that the obstacles such as fragmented data flow policies, usability issues, and limited awareness, can be addressed by enhancing regional cohesion, improving accessibility and fostering a sense of belonging in the GBA. This paper extends the conceptual scope of infrastructural regionalism to digital platforms and provides profound policy implications on cross-border healthcare services for Hong Kong older adults in the GBA in the digital age. • Analyzes the role of digital healthcare platforms in regional integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). • Extends infrastructural regionalism to digital healthcare platforms like e-health. • Focuses on Hong Kong older adults navigating cross-border healthcare in Shenzhen. • Identifies governance and usability gaps in eHealth and cross-border data frameworks. • Demonstrates how digital platforms shape healthcare access and regional belonging in the GBA.