Health Intel Asia

03/04/2017

Maybe Multinational Pharma Shouldn’t Be Scared of the Chinese Goverment:https://www.facebook.com/HealthIntelAsia/?modal=composer&ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Asia health news infused with Sichuan Peppers

03/04/2017

"The idea of something that is not particularly sexy, but does have real teeth is a good way to think about the early discussions that have taken place between the U.S. and China around data reciprocity. These discussions will have particular impact on how asymmetries in either countries’ market access standards specific to data will impact emerging technologies that leverage AI, big data, and cloud computing for population health, personalized medicine and other new disruptive healthcare delivery platforms being spun out of startups across both the U.S. and China."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminshobert/2017/03/28/how-thirst-for-unsexy-data-is-shaping-our-view-of-globalization/

If the country with the most data will win the next era of big data, AI and cloud computing, then policy-makers in both China and the United States must reflect on what has and has not worked well for both countries in similar high-technology fields.

24/02/2017

This has been a long time coming, but this week's update to the NRDL in China is a positive signal. Much like the CFDA's ongoing reform process, the NRDL's update helps re-affirm MNC pharma's commitment to the China market. Yes, the trade of volume for price is very much at play within the NRDL, but seeing it finally get updated removes a negative talking point on reimbursement and market access.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pharmaceuticals-idUSKBN1620D7

China has updated list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes, a long-awaited fillip for drugmakers in the world's second-largest drug market where many new drugs have been kept out of patients' reach because of high costs.

20/02/2017

Over the last year, Jing‘s work has been more involved with helping service providers understand how to position their services to access China’s yibao (government reimbursement). She has now helped map out, in detail, reimbursement plans at the local level in nearly a dozen provinces for home healthcare, senior care, rehabilitation and pharmaceutical companies. It requires a very unique ability to blend the quantitative with the qualitative, because much of what constitutes “policy” in China varies widely. More on this in today's Health Intel Asia column:

https://healthintelasia.com/figuring-reimbursement-policies-china/ #

15/02/2017

Can Technology Really Solve China's Healthcare Crisis? Technology isn’t the solution to every problem; in fact, in many situations it can make things worse. Nowhere is this tension between technology’s promise and its unfulfilled potential more obvious than in China’s healthcare economy. This is why, despite significant high profile investments into China’s healthcare technology sector by stalwart innovators like Jack Ma, results thus far have come up well short from both investor and patient expectations. More in Forbes today:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminshobert/2017/02/14/can-technology-really-solve-chinas-healthcare-crisis/

Technology isn’t the solution to every problem; in fact, in many situations it can actually make things worse. Nowhere is this tension between technology’s promise and its unfulfilled potential more obvious than in China’s healthcare economy.

13/02/2017

We were recently discussing what we are seeing and hearing from foreign companies operating in China, in particular around official enforcement of business licenses, actual versus agreed upon scope of services, tax oversight, how disgruntled Chinese employees are using threats to gain the upper hand with foreign companies, and the general regulatory environment. Now is a particularly good time for healthcare companies in China to do some housekeeping in each of these areas, as I discuss in detail in this column:

https://healthintelasia.com/first-chinese-home-care-company-announces-ipo/

Print | Email | PDFI was recently having dinner with Dan Harris from China Law Blog. Our conversation zeroed in on what he and his China lawyers are seeing in terms of changes in enforcement by Chinese officials towards foreign businesses. He noted that they are seeing a variety of what I will cal...

07/02/2017

We are particularly focused on helping western senior care companies globalize. This has meant a heavy emphasis on opportunities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India; however, given the scope of the world’s aging challenges, these markets are not the only places senior care operators should be looking. This point was reinforced recently when we spent time in Mexico City visiting a couple of senior living platforms that are great examples of the opportunity in foreign markets for western operators that choose to be bullish and prioritize overseas expansion.

https://healthintelasia.com/side-trip-mexico/ #

Print | Email | PDFIf you’ve been a long time reader you will know that I am particularly focused on helping western senior care companies globalize their businesses. For the better part of the last 6 years, this has meant a heavy emphasis on opportunities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India;…

27/01/2017

The globalization of senior living. Belmont Village's first foreign project isn't in China, it's in Mexico City. Our job requires us to have line of sight on what globally minded senior living providers are doing and that means not just China and Southeast Asia.

24/01/2017

What if China's hospital reforms eliminating drug kickbacks to physicians is just a tool for the government to re-sort where physicians work, and create an alternative incentive mechanism that will increase private hospital utilization? Jing Huang has a great column up today at Health Intel Asia on the topic. More here:

https://healthintelasia.com/reforms-focused-pharma-kickbacks-china-last-straw-push-doctors-leave/

Print | Email | PDFThree weeks ago, CCTV reported the drug kickback scandals in six 3rd class public hospitals. All the doctors involved were penalized. This CCTV report has continued to be a hot topic in multiple WeChat public accounts that I monitor to gauge for our clients how the on-the-ground r...

23/01/2017

China's Growing Obesity Problem: "These days, it seems China is beating America at almost everything.

Take obesity: A recent study published shows that China can now lay claim to having a greater percentage of obese men and women than in the United States.

Perhaps Americans can take solace with the realization that China’s success has only come on the heels of Western fast food chains penetrating a domestic Chinese market."

More in Forbes today:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminshobert/2017/01/22/chinas-growing-obesity-problem/

These days, it seems China is beating America at almost everything. Take obesity: A recent study published shows that China can now lay claim to having a greater percentage of obese men and women than in the United States.

19/01/2017

Challenges Getting Licenses for Overseas Home Care & Senior Care Operators in China :: A past home healthcare client reached out right before Christmas around some challenges they had encountered in pursuit of their license in China. Our exchange triggered a couple of thoughts on my part as foreign senior housing and home healthcare companies craft their market access strategies. More in today's Health Intel Asia column:

https://healthintelasia.com/challenges-getting-licenses-overseas-home-care-senior-care-operators-china/

Print | Email | PDFA past home healthcare client reached out to me right before Christmas around some challenges they had encountered in pursuit of their license in China. Our exchange triggered a couple of thoughts on my part as foreign senior housing and home healthcare companies craft their mark...

18/01/2017

Meet The Chinese Company That Wants To Be The Intel Of Personalized Medicine. Think Moore's Law only applies to the number of transistors in an integrated circuit? It doesn't. It also has application to gene sequencing and the new frontier promised by personalized medicine. More at Forbes today.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminshobert/2017/01/18/meet-the-chinese-company-that-wants-to-be-the-intel-of-personalized-medicine/

In 1999, the first fully sequenced human genome cost roughly $3 billion to complete. By 2007, the cost had decreased to a couple of million dollars, and today it is around $1,000. BGI, a Shenzhen-based company, thinks it can drive the cost down to $200.