Philips Announces Collaboration with American Telemedicine Association to Further Commitment to Telehealth

PhilipsRoyal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced it has once again joined forces with the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) to help further the adoption of telehealth across the industry, demonstrating its commitment to connecting care across acute, post-acute and home care settings. The continued collaboration spotlights the growing adoption and momentum in telehealth amidst COVID-19, and the need to convey the exponential shift to telehealth capabilities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the share of Americans participating in telehealth from 11% in 2019 to 46% today, with healthcare systems reporting a 50 to 175-fold increase in telehealth volume compared to pre-pandemic levels [1]. As the world begins to move from the first wave of reactive care, into a more proactive phase and beyond, virtual care solutions are supporting the recovery of COVID patients as they transition through their care journey, and non-COVID patients as they return to elective surgeries, diagnoses, prevention and treatments that have been put on hold since the onset of the pandemic.

"There is no better time for Philips to team with the ATA. Philips is creating proactive, AI-powered solutions to improve patient monitoring, precision diagnosis and clinical workflows at every point along the continuum. This directly aligns with our vision for telehealth - to drive the transformation of health by integrating virtual care from the hospital to physician offices and the home," said Ann Mond Johnson, CEO, the ATA. "Major industry players like Philips joining the ATA reconfirms the importance of telehealth and creates important new opportunities to deliver quality care whenever and wherever it’s needed."

"Philips has been a leader in telehealth across acute care and post-acute care settings in the hospital and in the home for over three decades, helping health systems deploy and scale telehealth solutions to help improve patient outcomes, enhance patient and staff experience and lower care costs," said Roy Jakobs, Chief Business Leader Connected Care, member of the Executive Committee at Royal Philips. "Our alignment with ATA will help promote strong growth and faster adoption of telehealth and policy changes escalated during the COVID crisis as we pivot to innovate ‘virtual first’ strategies to support hospitals, payers, and patients across care settings, including digital health technologies to support healthy living in the home."

Expanding virtual connected care through partnership and innovation

COVID-19 has propelled digital technology to the forefront as healthcare systems rapidly expand telehealth, including virtual care, remote patient monitoring, data analytics and medical record-sharing capabilities to care for patients with COVID-19. In response to the pandemic, Philips has been working with customers around the world to rapidly develop and deploy scalable telehealth solutions to support frontline care professionals and their patients. Philips recently received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its wireless wearable biosensor (Philips Biosensor BX100) to help manage confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in the hospital. The wearable biosensor enhances clinical surveillance as part of the Philips patient deterioration detection solution to help clinicians detect risk so they can intervene earlier and help improve care for patients in lower acuity care areas.

The Philips Virtual Connected Care Ecosystem comprises people, processes, and technology. At the core of the platform are three Philips FDA-cleared, vendor agnostic solutions currently utilized to provide remote critical care to patients in the hospital and at home including:

  • FDA-cleared Tele-ICU software (eCare Manager) with AI-enabled decision support algorithms to enable critical care clinicians to work virtually coordinating with on-site clinical staff to provide care to COVID-19 patients from the hospital into the home;
  • Cloud-based software platform (IntelliSpace Corsium) provides real-time patient monitoring tracking during patient transport;
  • Patient centered apps (eCare Coordinator for providers/eCare Companion for patients) deployed in a home environment using mobile IOT (Internet of Things) monitoring devices to allow healthcare providers to monitor physiologic survey data and communicate directly with the patients they are providing care to as needed.

Telehealth expanding access to care for millions of U.S. veterans

Philips has partnered with The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) on Advancing Telehealth through Local Access Stations known as the ATLAS Program, bringing care to Veterans where and when they need it most. Launching in Eureka, Montana, followed by Springfield, Virginia, Atlas kicked off in 2019 with 10 pilot sites to be installed before the end of 2020. Philips has also taken the current configuration being used for the ATLAS Program to now create the commercial Philips Virtual Care Station that will further expand access to care through non-traditional locations such as retail health, community and university environments.

ATA 2020 Annual Virtual Conference and Expo

The 2020 ATA Annual conference will take place virtually, beginning June 22 - 26, 2020. Participants will have access to keynote discussions and panel sessions ranging in topics from interoperability and cybersecurity, to remote patient monitoring and disparity within telehealth offerings. On June 24, at 11:00AM - 11:20AM ET, Jeroen Tas, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at Royal Philips will discuss how Philips responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with customers around the world in developing telehealth solutions to support front-line care professionals. He will also share his vision on how healthcare leaders should embrace new ways of thinking to make possible digital, more modular and scalable, telehealth solutions.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2019 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 81,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries.

About the ATA

As the only organization completely focused on advancing telehealth, the ATA is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and appropriate care when and where they need it, enabling the system to do more good for more people. ATA represents a broad and inclusive member network of technology solution providers and payers, as well as partner organizations and alliances, working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models.

1. McKinsey https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/telehealth-a-quarter-trillion-dollar-post-covid-19-reality

Most Popular Now

AI could Improve Heart Attack Diagnosis …

An algorithm developed using artificial intelligence (AI) could soon be used by doctors to diagnose heart attacks with better speed and accuracy than ever before, according to new research from...

New Algorithm can Predict Diabetic Kidne…

Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys and the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed a computational approach to predict whether a person with type 2 diabetes will develop kidney disease...

AI Predicts Future Pancreatic Cancer

An artificial intelligence (AI) tool has successfully identified people at the highest risk for pancreatic cancer up to three years before diagnosis using solely the patients’ medical records, according to...

AI Voice Coach Shows Promise in Depressi…

Artificial intelligence (AI) could be a useful tool in mental health treatment, according to the results of a new pilot study led by University of Illinois Chicago researchers. The study...

ChatGPT Passes Radiology Board Exam

The latest version of ChatGPT passed a radiology board-style exam, highlighting the potential of large language models but also revealing limitations that hinder reliability, according to two new research studies...

Scientists develop AI tool to predict Pa…

Scientists from UNSW Sydney with collaborators at Boston University have developed a tool that shows early promise in detecting Parkinson’s disease years before the first symptoms start appearing. In research published...

Better than Humans: AI in Intensive Care…

In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important role in medicine. In diagnostics, successful tests have already been performed: for example, the computer can learn to categorise images...

Could Online Gaming Social Networks Have…

For millions of Americans playing some type of video game is a daily occurrence. Games can be a welcome form of entertainment and relaxation for many, and the internet can...

Siemens Healthineers Opens State-of-the-…

Siemens Healthineers has opened its new Education & Development Center (EDC) in Erlangen. The open-plan building offers space for the currently 240 trainees and integrated degree program participants in Erlangen...

Siemens Healthineers Invests 80 Million …

Siemens Healthineers is building a new factory in Forchheim for the cultivation of crystals for semiconductor production. The total investment amounts to 80 million euros. The new factory is expected...

Orion Health Welcomes New Sales Director…

Orion Health has appointed a new sales director for Scotland. Gabriel Radford, who has a background in business development for companies working with health, social care, and local government, will...

AI Tool Outperforms Human Emergency Call…

A team of researchers from Denmark have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) framework to address the number of strokes that go unrecognised by human emergency call handlers.(1) The framework...