In today’s Forbes Magazine in China, I have a column asking the question will Americans come to envy China’s healthcare? This is designed to be a thought experiment in how China might ultimately, in time, have a better designed, more cost effective healthcare delivery model than what is currently enjoyed in the US. I welcome your thoughts and feedback on the question here, or at the Forbes site. Mandarin version available here.
Last Saturday in Beijing, I sat down with David Wood, the former CEO of Beijing United Family Hospital. Now the MD of the ChinaCare Group, his 12 years of experience in the Chinese hospital market has much to offer investors as they contemplate what to make of Beijing’s policies to open this sector to outside investment. A synopsis of our conversation can be read here.
What do reforms in China’s healthcare system during 2011 suggest about how life-sciences, bio-tech, medical device and pharma companies should view 2012? Will the Anhui tender & reimbursement scheme get expanded to all 23 provinces, and will it go beyond just pharma? My column on these questions from this week’s China Forum here.
Over at AsiaHealthcareBlog, I have a post up this morning on the New York Times and its “Room for Debate” over the topic of China’s healthcare system and whether or not it represents a “crisis” for the country. Here’s a hint: yes, it’s a crisis! Most important may be the analysis by Yanzhong Huang, whose Foreign Affairs piece “The Sick Man of Asia” is highly recommended reading. If you’re only going to read one article this year on the challenges faced to modernize China’s healthcare system, make it his Foreign Affairs contribution. The AsiaHealthcareBlog piece can be read here.
More on this soon, but over at AsiaHealthcareBlog my post on the YTD trends of investments into China’s healthcare market. Head over there and read the post for more on the numbers.