16-Oct-15 Hong Kong's Hospital Authority has narrowly averted a specialist doctor manpower crisis by raising their retirement age from 60 to 65. Under a scheme costing HKD570 mn (USD74 mn), 60 out of 100 doctors who were to retire this year will continue their service. Serving 90% of patients with only 40% of doctors, Hong Kong's public hospitals are chronically understaffed. [image: SCMP]

16-Oct-15 Malaysia based IHH Healthcare is teaming up with Shanghai Broad Ocean Investments to set up a 350-bed tertiary hospital in Chengdu, China, in a move to be a leading provider in Greater China. The new Parkway Health Chengdu Hospital will be IHH’s first tertiary facility in Western China. [image: Perennial]

09-Oct-15 The Shanghai Medical Tourism Products & Promotions Platform is positioning the city for a mega-boom in medical tourism among mainlanders and foreigners alike, most notably in surgery, cosmetic procedures, TCM, dentistry and stem cell research. Shanghai may not have any beaches, but as its state-of-the-art public and private hospitals will soon become a major hub for health tourism. [image: Formosa Travel]

08-Oct-15 The average amount spent on medical expenses in Taiwan for people aged 65+ was nearly three times the national average in 2014. People aged 51-64 had average medical expenses of NT$36,274 (USD1,100), compared with NT$7,069 (USD214) for people aged 7-18. The figures are based on the amount spent to reimburse medical institutions under the country's universal health insurance program. [image: Want China Times]

08-Oct-15 China will spend RMB9.8 bn (USD1.54 bn) to subsidise public hospital reform in 2016, the Ministry of Finance said. China's healthcare reform drive is facing a number of obstacles, including a perceived lack of support from central government and challenges of private firms working within the huge, fragmented public sector. [image: AFP / Ed Jones]