Cloud-Based Data Across the Healthcare Continuum

JEMS: What’s the role of Philips Healthcare and what technology solutions do you offer?

Philips: Philips is focused on health technology, delivering on a vision to make the world healthier through innovation. We have professional and consumer businesses that have now been combined into one. This allows Philips to be uniquely positioned to manage emerging trends across the health continuum (from hospital to home). Specifically, our solutions focus on healthy living, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and home care categories.

The combination of our Healthcare and Consumer Lifestyle product portfolios, and the integration of the data from connected products on Philips’ cloud-based digital health platform, may provide more effective and lower-cost health solutions.

An example of a Philips Healthcare service targeting consumers is the Philips LifeLine system, which is the No. 1 medical alert service in the United States and has served over 7 million subscribers from its inception. It was originally sold through hospitals and other healthcare facilities as a community service. This delivery system gave hospitals a positive community image while simultaneously helping at-risk populations feel more comfortable about living alone or independently.

Recently, Philips has extended its solutions into the home healthcare market through the HealthSuite Digital Platform. HealthSuite is an open, cloud-based platform that collects, compiles and analyzes clinical and other data from multiple devices and sources. This enables care providers and individuals to access data on personal health, specific patient conditions and entire populations, so that people can be more empowered in their own health.

Two solutions using HealthSuite right now are: 1) eCareCoordinator, which provides clinicians daily reviews of their patients so they can prioritize patient care plans and intervene as needed; and 2) eCareCompanion, which is the patient portal and drives patient engagement with the solution. eCareCompanion allows patients to stay connected with their care teams for such health-related tasks as monitoring their weight, blood pressure, pulse and medicine dispensing.

How Philips is creating a healthier tomorrow Figure courtesy Philips

How Philips is using cloud-based data to improve the use of healthcare technology

JEMS: How does this functionality assist with the delivery of EMS and the latest transformation for EMS into MIH-CP?

Philips: Philips understands the unique challenges EMS encounters in the prehospital healthcare environment and has provided trusted products in the emergency care and resuscitation market, notably defibrillators for BLS and ALS.

However, we see EMS providers using many elements of the broad Philips health technology portfolio while in the home, in transit in the ambulance and within the hospital as their patients move through the healthcare continuum. In all of these segments, Philips has proven products and solutions to assist, from healthy living and prevention to diagnosis, treatment and home care. This is core to our business and truly differentiates us.

JEMS: What’s your vision on EMS’ transformation of this service delivery model and the enhanced role Philips may play in the future to assist with the overall integration of EMS into the larger healthcare system?

Philips: Philips is in the process of addressing the emerging MIH-CP environment and is uniquely positioned, having already created solutions that span the health continuum, allowing the needs of consumers to be increasingly linked with those of clinicians in a connected environment. MIH-CP crosses through these environments and may use Philips products and solutions.

For example, using Philips HealthSuite Digital Platform and other services–including consulting, education, managed services and more–we can provide more data for agencies making the transition into MIH-CP. This may help hospitals, integrated delivery networks, accountable care organizations and EMS providers leverage costs, education and resources as they align with a trusted vendor to meet the goals of the Triple Aim.

JEMS: Who’s using this technology currently?

Philips: Philips solutions have tracked over 190 million patients on our patient monitors; additionally, more than 1 million patients are monitored in their homes every day, and over 4 million people use our sleeping and breathing aids. Philips has more than 450 products in over 100 countries.

James Fetterolf is senior field marketing manager at Philips. He can be reached at james.fetterolf@philips.com.

 

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