The government has revealed its decision to ease its external commercial borrowing (ECB) norm, enabling firms in the service sector – hospitals, hotels and software companies – to borrow up to US$ 100 million for import of capital goods.
[This article was published in the June 2008 issue of the eHEALTH Magazine (https://www.ehealthonline.org)]
eHealth is brought to life by contemporary changes of our world and summarises the entire range of services that are at the crossroad of traditional healthcare and information technology. eHealth affects the entire health sector-from general practitioner to the hospital manager, from nurses to software specialists, from social security funds to patients.
[This article was published in the June 2008 issue of the eHEALTH Magazine (https://www.ehealthonline.org)]
World news
In recognition of its groundbreaking work to prevent debilitating blindness and provide affordable, world-class eye care to the poor, the Aravind Eye Care System, based in Tamil Nadu, India, has won the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health. The US$ 1 million Gates Award – the world’s largest prize for international health – honors extraordinary efforts to improve health in developing countries.
Healthcare BPO firm Cbay Systems has acquired nearly 70% in medical transcription firm MedQuist from Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V for US$ 287 million.
Easy access to visa facilities permitted by India to overseas patients coupled with the best emerging medical infrastructure in large and tertiary towns will make the country earn to an extent of INR 8,000 crore in foreign exchange by 2012, a new study has said.
Mauritius-based firm Healthcare Investment (HIL) is picking up around 8.5% stake in Apollo Health Street (AHS), the healthcare BPO arm of India
Texas Instruments Inc expects health care to become a US$ 1 billion a year market for its chips in coming years in areas ranging from medical equipment used by doctors to devices implanted in the human body.
GE Healthcare has signed an agreement with drug maker Merck & Co, to provide lung imaging technology to assist in respiratory drug development, says CNN Money.
Private equity (PE) giant Texas Pacific Group (TPG)-controlled Parkway Hospital in Singapore is leading the race to acquire 25-30% stake in Bangalore-headquartered Manipal Hospital for over INR 500 crore, sources said.
Techmagnate, a fast growing Internet firm of India, has bagged prestigious order of developing and managing the complete web portal on medical tourism for All India Medical Tourism Company.
Indian hospitals are upping the ante on outsourcing. Instead of making heavy capital investments on expensive diagnostic equipment, costing INR 1.5 to INR 5 crore for MRI & CT scans, hospitals are opting for newer pay-per-use and outsourced models.
