The driving forces behind precision diagnostics in the past decade

I remember a time when the Philips healthcare division occupied only a corner of our North Ryde office in Sydney. It was 2007, and I had just joined the company as a Product Manager of our cardiovascular business. Next to where I sat were colleagues from our electronics business.

Today, Philips is a health technology company. In the 13 years that have passed, both Philips and the industry have evolved and transformed. It’s difficult to pick a pivoting moment, but perhaps the following developments stood out the most to me in my over decade-long journey with the company.

1. Access to care

In its 2017 Global Access to Healthcare Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit described Asia Pacific as “a study in contrasts” when it comes to access to healthcare. And indeed, it is to this day. On one hand, you have some of the world’s top-performing countries in terms of accessibility and quality of care, such as Australia and South Korea, but you also see ASEAN countries that fall on the other end of the spectrum.

 What we are observing in the region is a drive for digital, remote and mobile solutions to fill that gap in access to care, particularly in epidemic prevention, emergency rescue, and disaster relief situations, enabling the provision of affordable and high-quality healthcare.

 The Philips Lumify, for example, is a clear demonstration of answering that need – a point-of-care app-based ultrasound solution, enabling healthcare providers to carry out imaging at the patient’s bedside, in hospital wards and emergency departments, and even in people’s homes. Powered by the Reacts collaborative telehealth platform, it further combines live ultrasound examinations with online clinical support, allowing remote specialists to participate in the diagnosis.

 We have seen the Philips Lumify being put to great use in the Philippines, where Lumify is used in fetal ultrasound scanning of neonates and pregnant ladies in rural health centers, with images then sent to obstetricians, helping them to decide which patients need to travel to the city for further examinations or treatment.

 In June, we introduced Diagnostic Imaging Cabins—containers designed for functional and portable computed tomography (CT) and Diagnostic X-Ray (DXR) solutions —to help manage increased patient volume due to COVID-19. These cabins are suitable for the rapid deployment of computed tomography (CT) and Diagnostic X-Ray (DXR) solutions which can be placed within hospitals or even in mobile settings, such as trucks.

 As a result, healthcare workers and the government are able to provide reliable diagnostic imaging beyond the confines of hospitals, many of which are already overwhelmed and operating at overcapacity.

 It is true that there’s no “one size fits all” approach in such a diverse region. But if there’s one thing that holds true, it’s this: the desire of our customers to leverage innovations, be it virtual care technologies or interoperable data platforms, to bring healthcare closer to patients and their homes.

2. A shift to solutions-based model

So how could we support our strategy of enabling access to care? Our innovations and products play a key role, but they’re only part of a larger story in providing co-created solutions. To develop such expertise, we need to truly understand our customers’ challenges.

 What does the day in the life of a radiologist look like, for instance? What could be improved in the existing patient experience? These are just some questions we are asking. By truly empowering our people with such knowledge, we have successfully shifted from a transactional to solutions-based model, establishing long-term partnerships with our customers.

 In Vietnam, for example, we worked with Hong Duc Hospital to co-create a turnkey solution for Hong Duc Hospital II. Our seven-year partnership agreement covers the latest medical imaging and healthcare IT solutions as well as design, consulting, and financing services. We’re also delivering training programs to strengthen the hospital’s clinical capabilities, with the aim of delivering better clinical outcomes.

 The team has also evolved to adopt an audience-centric marketing strategy, moving away from just products and specifications. It is key for us to know not just the technology and applications behind the respective modality of business, but also adopt a systems view, leveraging data, to understand how our customers will interact with the solutions and integrate them into their workflow.

 This customer focus has driven Philips innovations in the past and continues to drive us forward now in innovating for and with our customers.

3. The fourth dimension in quadruple aim of healthcare

Looking at the industry, healthcare as we knew it back in the days was based on the framework developed by the US-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement to improve healthcare delivery outcomes. But in recent years, the industry has come to recognize the need to improve and measure a critical fourth dimension - improving the work life of care providers.

 We knew that better employee engagement, coupled with a positive patient experience, has been shown to increase hospitals’ ratings and profits. There was a clear business case to unlock gains and efficiencies and drive innovations that helped deliver on the Quadruple Aim of healthcare.

A clear example is the development of Compressed SENSE, a signal processing technique that shortens single MRI sequences and full MRI examinations, reducing scan time by up to 50%. Hospitals could achieve faster scanning with virtually equal image quality [1], and higher spatial resolution within the same scan time. With the reduced scan times, this has opened up the opportunity for more time spent communicating, connecting and caring for patients – in turn improving the staff experience. Yet this is just one solution touching all elements of the quadruple aim.

 By adopting a systems approach in Radiology, we are looking to deliver not only differentiating point solutions, but also solutions that help integrate, digitize and virtualize workflows within the Radiology department. These further enable streamlining and optimization of the radiology workflow, leveraging analytics and adoption of artificial intelligence.

 The targeted result? A value-based healthcare system delivering better care by enhancing patient experience, improving health outcomes, lowering the cost of care, and improving the work life of care providers.

[1] Compared to Philips scans without Compressed SENSE