Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, and UC San Francisco, a world-class biomedical research hub and health system, announced a partnership to develop technology that will enable a modern, more streamlined experience for patients and set a new standard for health care delivery.
UCSF will use Philips HealthSuite Platform to oversee the development of technologies that use artificial intelligence to enable personalization and make it easier for patients to select providers, access their health information and receive virtual care at home, while also easing the burden on care providers with intuitive workflows and real-time decision support. Philips open API-based ecosystem will foster the level of third-party innovation that, combined with UCSF's clinical expertise, can achieve these goals. With end-to-end interoperability and orchestration, the cloud-based system enables Philips products, systems, devices and services to work seamlessly with those developed by partners and third parties, reflecting the diversity of delivery systems and technology partners held by both Philips and UCSF.
Address Lack of Interoperability
The work will address the significant challenge of integrating data from the multitude of often incompatible software systems that generate and track patient information, a problem that is intensifying as health systems expand their networks and extend care beyond hospitals and clinics into the community. The lack of interoperability often requires manual re-entry or hunting down data among the different systems. Integrating these different data streams will ease the burden on clinical staff, provide richer analytics and enable more coordinated orchestration of care across diverse settings.
"Our goal in partnering with Philips is to serve our patients better," said Aaron Neinstein, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of clinical informatics at the UCSF Center for Digital Health Innovation. "The services we enable on this platform will help people more easily find the right provider for the care they need, eliminating the worries and delays people often experience. We know that people need convenient access to care, whether for their acute symptoms or chronic conditions, and we can provide a more comprehensive, continuous feeling of support from their care team enabled by virtual and in-person experiences across their care journey."
The co-developed solutions will power coordination and the frictionless flow of care across traditional boundaries of geography, hospital or site of care. "Over the past few years, UCSF Health has developed a network of high-quality providers across the Bay Area who share our vision to make health care more accessible, affordable and personalized," said Shelby Decosta, president of UCSF Health Affiliates Network and Chief Strategy Officer for UCSF Health. "Our partnership with Philips will empower UCSF Health with navigation tools to bring this vision to life across our network of world-class hospitals, community clinics and outpatient centers, as well as through virtual care."
The agreement includes a combination of applied research and digital solution implementation, ranging from developing advanced artificial intelligence algorithms and virtual care delivery solutions to enable a more continuous, connected care experience, to connecting multiple hospitals to better coordinate a patient's care journey. The partners will create and share best practices with the health care industry, focused on advancing the Quadruple Aim: better health care, at lower cost, with improved outcomes, while enhancing the experience for both patients and staff.
"We need to work together if we are going to move health care forward, and we are inspired by UCSF's willingness to push the boundaries of technology innovation and transform care for their patients," said Vitor Rocha, chief market leader for Philips North America and member of the Executive Committee. "As consumers, we have come to rely on technology to make our lives easier, such as trusting the cloud to manage our financial data, our commerce and our education. With this partnership, we are looking to simplify health care in the same way and make technology solutions pay dividends when it comes to the patient's time and health."
About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area.
About Royal Philips: Royal Philips is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being, 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 2020 sales of EUR 17.3 billion and employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries.
