Philips
(NYSE: PHG)
announced today that it entered into a virtual care collaboration with CoxHealth.
CoxHealth, a U.S. not-for-profit healthcare provider, sought out Philips to implement virtual care through its hospital network. The company wanted a solution staffed entirely by its own employees that expanded beyond the intensive care unit. It also hoped for something that allowed nurses and physicians to move seamlessly between the bedside and virtual environments.
Along with the increased adoption of telehealth and virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic, these aims led to a collaboration. CoxHealth wanted to work with Philips to go beyond an eICU program.
Together, the two created a solution based on the close integration of the Philips eCareManager enterprise health software and Philips Capsule Surveillance. Using AI and advanced clinical algorithms, eCareManager synthesizes patient data and translates it into meaningful information. CoxHealth expects it to help clinical staff identify patients most at-risk wherever they are in the hospital. They can then allocate resources accordingly.
“From the outset, the Philips team worked alongside CoxHealth to fully comprehend the vision of CoxHealth’s leadership team and identify the necessary key performance indicators and impact measurements,” said Shiv Gopalkrishnan, business leader for EMR and care management at Philips. “It was not a situation where we supplied a standard solution, it was an opportunity for us to listen and learn. We helped conceptualize the customer’s ideas and requirements as they designed a virtual care delivery program that would directly address the needs of their staff, while standardizing and improving care delivery and helping achieve the goal of better patient outcomes.”
More about the collaboration between Philips and CoxHealth
Philips Capsule Surveillance adds continuous analysis of live-streaming medical device and other patient data. It helps to identify actionable patient insights to support proactive care.
Combining eCareManager and Philips Capsule Surveillance offers contextualized notifications, viewable patient data and access to insights. This access can come at the bedside, in a virtual care command center or in the medical facility. Audio-video links enable virtual care teams to interact directly with individual patients and bedside equipment when required.
Philips intends to add the technology to every in-patient ICU and medical-surgical patient room at CoxHealth hospitals. That includes Cox South, Cox Medical Center Branson, Cox Barton County, and Cox Monett, all in Missouri. By the end of 2023, CoxHealth expects to have the technology in approximately 700 beds.
Beth Polivka, SVP and system chief nursing officer at CoxHealth, said the deal can improve clinical outcomes, reducing central line infections and readmissions. CoxHealth also anticipates the deal becoming “a big differentiator” with staff recruitment.
“The excitement from our clinical staff about this [new way of working] is overwhelming,” said Polivka. Because of this change in our approach to care, we have experienced nurses coming back to us that may have left before because they weren’t sure if they wanted to continue doing bedside care. Our staff has reported feeling better supported in providing the best patient care