28-Apr-17 The World Economic Forum plans pilot programs of a new healthcare model that would pay for treatment based on how well it works rather than volume of care. Signatories include Novartis, Takeda, Medtronic, Kaiser Permanente, Qualcomm's health-data unit, and health officials from the Netherlands and Britain. Regional pilots are planned for The Netherlands, Singapore and China. [image: Reuters]

21-Mar-17 Korea's NongHyup Life Insurance has signed an MOU with KT to develop new insurance products and healthcare services using big data and IoT. The companies will launch a product for elderly people in 2018. The product is characterized by smart bands checking their pulse and movements and providing notifications for families, insurers and public health centers. [image: Business Korea]

05-Mar-17 Indonesia’s healthcare insurance scheme is struggling to gain traction. Poor services at public hospitals and the difficulty of accessing care across the vast archipelago are factors, but abuse of the scheme by hospitals and fraud by users are also to blame. The number of people benefiting from the scheme may be less than official figures claim. [image: FT Confidentail Research]

08-Feb-17 Vietnam plans to issue electronic health security cards to its citizens verifying their right to medical services. The push to digitize the system is aimed at seamless healthcare delivery and insurance across the country. Electronic healthcare registries in all 63 cities and provinces will be synced together so that insurance plans will have to accept all cardholders. [image: VN Express / Dang Phuong Lan]

01-Mar-17 Japan's national health insurance logged a deficit of JPY284 bn yen (USD2.5 bn) in 2015 as an injection of public funds failed to compensate for rising costs stemming from an aging subscriber pool and pricey new treatments. The main culprit was a rise in benefit payments, which grew 2.1%. High-priced hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni also played a role. [image: Nikkei Asian Reveiw]