02-Jul-15 Telstra Health has gone live with its ReadyCare telemedicine service, offering phone and video consultations with Australian GPs 24 hours a day. A JV with Swiss telemedicine provider Medgate, ReadyCare is initially targeted at health funds, mining companies, state governments and corporates. It has signed its first big contract with travel insurance firm Cover-More, which handles 35,000 medical episodes annually. [image: Gettty Images]

16-Jun-15 The Japanese government will seek to slash the number of hospital beds by more than 10% to 1.19 million by 2025, hoping it will curb ballooning medical costs in a graying society. To compensate, the government will also step up efforts to ensure that 300,000 patients can receive medical treatment at home or in nursing-care facilities. [image: Wikicommons]

09-Jul-15 The Indian state of Karnataka is on the radar of Chinese businesses from Yunnan, lead by Sunpa Group, which are expected to invest up to USD1 bn in an industrial park at Vasanthnarasapura, including investments in telemedicine, medical equipment manufacturing, solar power and tech research. [image: Economy Watch]

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]

10-Jun-15 The number of patients consulting with their doctors online in south-western Queensland has tripled in just three months. At one hospital users jumped from eight to 40 a month. The increase is attributed to recently appointed coordinators, who show patients how to use the telehealth service, thereby avoiding hours of travel. [image: MEDAXS]