Philips business strategy closes the loop of the EP care cycle
At the 13th annual international Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium last week, Cardiovascular Business News caught up with Jan Vermeulen, global marketing manager of Philips Healthcare business program EP.
Vermeulen outlined how Philips is simplifying the patient care cycle with a program that seamlessly integrates all aspects of EP equipment and care under one business roof.
In the past, the EP care cycle would filter through individual modality business units.
“We had people selling CT equipment approach our customers, people selling ECT equipment approach our customers, and people selling x-ray equipment approach our customers. Now, with EP business program, we are bundling them all together, going at it from a much higher perspective, looking at the total workflow care cycle process,” Vermeulen said.
Philips recently added home monitoring to its portfolios with the acquisitions of Visicu, Respronics, and Raytel Cardiac Services. This market is new for Philips, but will allow the company “to close the loop of patient care,” Vermeulen said.
Data management systems are also important factors to the integration process, because they stretch across the various phases of the care cycle. The systems can access and manage data from all vendor equipment, creating an open and versatile platform that allows physicians access to data and images from any stage in the patient’s history.
Two new products integral to the business program and launched in 2007 are:
Vermeulen outlined how Philips is simplifying the patient care cycle with a program that seamlessly integrates all aspects of EP equipment and care under one business roof.
In the past, the EP care cycle would filter through individual modality business units.
“We had people selling CT equipment approach our customers, people selling ECT equipment approach our customers, and people selling x-ray equipment approach our customers. Now, with EP business program, we are bundling them all together, going at it from a much higher perspective, looking at the total workflow care cycle process,” Vermeulen said.
Philips recently added home monitoring to its portfolios with the acquisitions of Visicu, Respronics, and Raytel Cardiac Services. This market is new for Philips, but will allow the company “to close the loop of patient care,” Vermeulen said.
Data management systems are also important factors to the integration process, because they stretch across the various phases of the care cycle. The systems can access and manage data from all vendor equipment, creating an open and versatile platform that allows physicians access to data and images from any stage in the patient’s history.
Two new products integral to the business program and launched in 2007 are:
- EP cockpit, which provides a customizable EP lab setup including video switching, single keyboard and mouse control concept, and moveable ceiling suspended equipment rack holding EP lab equipment to reduce excess in labs; and
- EP navigator, which allows instant confirmation of the catheter or lead position with respect to 3D cardiac anatomy in the EP intervention lab.