08-Feb-16 Years of under-funding and cost-cutting applied by successive governments have produced lengthening waiting times in Australia's public hospitals, including for potentially life-saving emergency care. Emergency department waiting times worsened in 2014–15, with only 68% of emergency department patients classified as “urgent” being seen within half an hour.

09-Feb-16 Australia has a supportive R&D environment and renowned academic institutions. The country outpaces the US in terms of medtech sales per capita: USD10.2 bn in 2012/13 for its 23 mn people, while US revenue was USD110 bn in 2015 for a population of 319 million. The top three therapeutic areas are cardiovascular, anesthesia, and musculoskeletal. [image: MD+DI]

05-Feb-16 The public health system run by Rio de Janeiro's state government reached breaking point at the end of 2015 after authorities admitted to a budget shortfall, which was blamed on a drop in oil revenue. But Rio's doctors' union, SinMed, and the state's Regional Medical Council also suggested that public funds had been misused. [image: Priscilla Moraes / Al Jazeera]

05-Feb-16 NEC will implement its Bedside Nursing IT solution in selected hospitals in Indonesia as part of its ‘Solutions for Society’ initiative, starting with two hospitals and aiming to serve 10 within a few years. Nurses use a device such as a tablet to retrieve real-time data from the Hospital Information System, allowing them to provide more personalised and effective care. [image: Digital New Asia]

05-Feb-16 The global healthcare industry is estimated to grow at 4.3% from 2016 to 2019, according to Deloitte. The Middle East & Africa region is expected to report the fastest growth of 9.3%, followed by Asia at 6.6%. North America is forecast to grow at 4.8% and Latin America at 3.1%, while Western Europe is likely to grow at 1.4%. [image: Nova Ekonomija]