19-Oct-16 Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings is making a bet on China’s growing healthcare market, investing SGD250 mn in a joint venture focused on the country with Columbia Pacific Management, a Seattle-based healthcare provider with operations in China. Columbia Pacific operates a hospital, two specialty clinics and three senior living facilities in China. [image: The Business Times]

18-Oct-16 Hospital chains like the Apollo Group, Manipal, Columbia Asia and Fortis were among the first in India to invest heavily in IT. Joining their ilk are speciality clinics like Vasan Eyecare, Davita, Narayana Health, HCG and Agwaral Eye Clinic, which are now taking to the IT highway and ICD10 compliance, web payment portals, mobile apps, EHR and appointment booking. [image: ET Healthworld]

14-Oct-16 As the Indian government reviews an overhaul of the drug regulatory process, rules related to clinical trials may be further eased and timelines for approvals shortened to 4-6 months from around 6-8 months now. [image: The Economic Times]

11-Oct-16 Baidu - China's biggest search engine - has introduced an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to connect with patients and suggest diagnoses to doctors. The bot is designed to be the first port of call for a person feeling sick. A patient poses a health query to 'Melody', which responds with further questions, and compares responses with Baidu's database. [image: VCG / Getty Images]

10-Oct-16 As state spending on health continues to increase - in the 2015-16 fiscal year it increased 7% - demand for private and specialist services are also expected to increase as the middle class grows. With this comes an opportunity for the private sector to work with the public sector, NGOs and the government to improve the situation across the country. [image: Aye Zaw Myo / World Bank / CC BY-NC-ND]