25-Jun-15 Australian hospital readmission rates are up to 40% higher than previously believed, according to new data, raising questions about patients being discharged too early. "It's really for the hospitals to look at the numbers and identify whether the care under their control can be improved", said the head of the NSW Bureau of Health Information. [image: MJA Insight]

25-Jun-15 Medication errors cause most "serious untoward events" in Hong Kong's public hospitals, the most frequent being wrong dosage. Such problems caused by doctors' heavy workload and an outdated dispensary system are being addressed by an e-prescription system which is to be installed in 17 hospitals by Dec-18, with up to 30% reduction in medication errors. [image: South Morning China Post_Jonathan Wong]

25-Jun-15 Following a strike over working hours and safety at work by resident doctors in Delhi, the State Health Department has initiated steps such as deploying more Home Guards, ensuring availability of generic medicines and introducing more staff in all Delhi Government hospitals. [image: Deccan Herald]

22-Jun-15 The spread of MERS in Korea is arousing controversy over telemedicine. Medical exams and prescriptions by phone are currently illegal, and some healthcare organizations are claiming that the government illegally allowed the temporarily closed Samsung Medical Center to prescribe via telemedicine, despite the lack of proof of safety and effectiveness. [image: Business Korea]

19-Jun-15 With the exception of Brazil, most countries in Latin America rely almost exclusively on imports of medical devices. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia together accounted for more than 75% of imported devices in 2014. Mexico is the largest importer of the region at over USD2.5 billion in 2014. [image: Global Health Intelligence]