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Chinese telehealth app raises US$183m

Chinese telehealth app Chunyu Yisheng raises RMB 1.2bn (US$183m) in a pre-IPO round, as the group is reported to list via a reverse takeover with an unnamed company. The news comes one month after insurer Ping An’s Doctor app, a similar product, completed a Series A funding round of $500m.

Circle to partner in China and Europe

UK hospital management group Circle is set to partner with a European player to offer a rehabilitation solution in the UK. We name the likely partner. Circle has also announced a joint venture with what it claims is the fourth largest hospital chain in China.

Hong Kong operators eye mainland medical tourists

Hong Kong operators are expanding to mainland China to promote their brands and bring medical tourists to Hong Kong, according to Thalia Georgiou, founder of consultancy firm Asia Care Group. We look at how Hong Kong-based Townhealth, is building dentistry and cosmetic surgery networks on the mainland, one year after Chinese insurer China Life Insurance became its largest shareholder.

Apollo gets a foot in China

Indian hospital operator Apollo has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with development firm Hainan Ecological Smart City Group (HESCG) to create a large healthcare facility, which includes both a hospital and medical college, in Hainan province.

Discovery to trial PROMs

The South African medical scheme, or private health insurer, Discovery Health, is interested in outcomes measurement and will soon trial patient reported outcomes measurements (PROMS) in collaboration with the provider Intercare, says Darren Sweidan, head of the Health Professional Unit. This is the one of the first such schemes in the country, as outcomes measurement has been stymied by a fragmented system and resistance by clinicians, he claims.

Ping An Doctor app to bridge payer-provider gap in China

One year after its launch, Chinese insurer Ping An’s comprehensive ‘Doctor’ app raised $500m in a series A funding round. The app allows its users to access real-time consultations and health management services –becoming the most popular platform in a saturated digital market. We look at Ping An’s strategy to bridge the payer-provider gap.

Private insurers in East Asia: Between a rock and a hard place

Private medical insurers face colossal problems in China, India and across South East Asia. At this month’s Asia Healthcare Summit in Singapore, they were better at describing the challenges of culture, fraud and overtreatment than they were at coming up with solutions.

Huge mental health treatment gap in China and India

The Lancet has reported that third of the global burden of disease for mental, neurological and substance use disorders occurs in India and China – more than in all high-income countries combined – yet 10% or less of people with mental disorders in these countries receive the needed treatment. Even for serious psychotic illness only 40% of Chinese had treatment from healthcare professionals. Both countries are about to engulfed by dementia as their populations age.

The side effects of China’s ban on drug mark-ups

Amidst concerns that doctors often over-prescribe, the Chinese government decided last year to stop hospitals working as distribution channels for pharmaceuticals by banning drug mark-ups. But Manaen Ma, a self-employed consultant on China’s healthcare industry, says that a ban cannot substitute better funding for indebted hospitals - and that the practice is still going on.

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