13-May-15 China's State Council has published a plan to overhaul thousands of public county hospitals nationwide. A key reform is barring a 15% drug mark-up, which some say causes over-prescription of expensive imported drugs. An economist at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing said hospitals will now have to raise prices on other services or lower quality levels. [image: Caixin Online]

13-May-15 Chinese hospital-investment firm Zhuhai Blue Ocean Strategy Medical plans to raise about USD1 bn in a Hong Kong initial public offering in the third quarter of 2015. Founded in 2010, the private company provides hospital management services and has formed business partnerships with over 300 hospitals across 200 cities. [image: Reuters]

13-May-15 Singapore's Raffles Medical Group will develop a general hospital in Shanghai as part of a joint-venture - its first hospital outside of Singapore. The 400-bed hospital will be built in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, and will cater to locals, expatriates and visiting international patients. [image: Raffles Medical Group]

12-May-15 India's government has come up with a scheme that will offer free diagnostic tests to people visiting public health centers. Under the scheme, private health service providers will collect blood samples, conduct analysis and provide reporting in locations where public infrastructure is lacking. CT scan services will also be developed at district level under public-private partnership. [image: Newsgram]

12-May-15 Australia's 2015 Budget has failed to address the cuts to public hospital funding made by the government in 2014. “In the 2014 Budget, the government rescinded AUD57 billion in funding that was to go to fund essential hospital services, and that had been agreed through bipartisan negotiations,” said Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association (AHHA) Chief Executive, Alison Verhoeven. [image: Hospital and Agedcare]