130 years of Philips innovation, collaboration, and social responsibility

Philips’ entry into health technology took place during the First World War when it applied the skills it had developed for manufacturing lightbulbs to repairing, and subsequently manufacturing, X-ray tubes for diagnostic imaging, rapidly innovating their design to minimize X-ray exposure and improve image quality. Since then, Philips has innovated virtually every major medical imaging modality from ultrasound to MRI and CT systems.  

Philips’ current innovations span the health continuum from healthy living and disease prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and care in the home. By bringing together devices, systems, software, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics, the company today develops intelligent solutions that help consumers around the world to live healthy lifestyles and enable healthcare providers to deliver on the quadruple aim: enhancing the patient experience, improving health outcomes, lowering the cost of care, and improving the work life of care providers.

Recent examples include:

• Philips’ AI Workflow Suite – IntelliSpace – a solution for AI-assisted radiology workflows, automatically distributing data to AI applications to increase efficiency/productivity, reduce staff overload, and enhance the patient experience.
• Philips Image Guided Therapy System – Azurion – accelerating the move from open surgery to minimally-invasive surgery, enabling patients to recover faster and hospital systems to reduce costs.
• Philips’ eICU telemedicine program and wearable biosensor – enabling patients to be expertly monitored 24/7 inside and outside hospitals.
• AI-powered personal health innovations, such as Philips Sonicare Power Toothbrush 9900 Series Prestige with SenseIQ and its advanced Shaver 9000 Series with SkinIQ technology, are driving the personalization of consumer health through solutions that adapt to an individual user’s unique behavior and needs.

In an ever more complex and interconnected world, meaningful innovation in healthcare also requires co-creation through partnerships and collaborations with leading clinical researchers and care providers. Key examples of leading institutes that Philips collaborates with include:

• University Medical Center Utrecht (The Netherlands) - advancing precision diagnosis through breakthrough quantitative MRI technology – MR STAT.
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, U.S.) - co-developing Philips Oncology Pathways powered by Dana-Farber to provide clinicians worldwide with access to best-practice and personalized care recommendations for patients, based on the latest scientific advances.
• Singapore General Hospital (Singapore) - leveraging Philips Pathology Suite – IntelliSite – in the development of AI-based tools
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (US), expanding the VA’s critical tele-critical care program by creating the world’s largest system comprising more than 1,700 sites and serving nearly nine million veterans each year. The program aims to provide veterans with remote access to intensive care expertise, including research into technologies that can better support veterans. 
  
• MONET Technologies Inc. (Japan) - Philips, MONET Technologies and Ina City are addressing the rapidly aging population and shortage of medical facilities and healthcare professionals in Japan through a mobile healthcare vehicle concept equipped with connected care technologies.

Philips also enters into long-term strategic partnerships with hospitals and hospital groups that are characterized by new business models and the move from one-time transactions to continuous relationships aimed at offering hospitals a holistic solution that addresses their clinical, operational, and business needs. For example, with:

• Klinikum Stuttgart Hospital (Stuttgart, Germany) – a 10-year innovation partnership to keep the hospital equipped with the latest state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, informatics, and connected care solutions.
• Flevo Hospital (Almere, The Netherlands) – a 10-year strategic partnership agreement to continuously innovate and optimize patient care in the Almere region of the Netherlands.