As we march towards more in-home and remote care, the need for digital innovation was at an all time high. Without giving it too much credit, COVID-19 accelerated the pace of innovation in this area. It was vital to find alternate solutions to provide the care people needed. I sat down with Dr. Jan Kimpen, Chief Medical Officer at Philips to discuss the work they have been doing in this field.
At this point we are all very familiar with telehealth. However, telehealth is only useful if it is accessible. It doesn’t matter how well the hospital and your staff are prepared to deliver remote care if the patients do not have the means to access it, whether that’s due to poor service or lacking the technology necessary. And it is exactly here that Philips began their work. By partnering with West Moreton Hospitals in Australia, they were able to provide everyone in the program with iPads, wearables, and connectivity, fully cementing the remote patient to doctor pathway.
In doing so, Dr. Jan Kimpen found that by providing patients with the necessary tools to remotely communicate with their doctors, the hospital could reduce the number of emergency room visits by 50% and the number of hospitalizations by 23%. Furthermore, by using telehealth the hospital could save AU$1,000 per month for every patient that was included in the program.
Moving forward, Philips is deeply invested in digitalization. Not only in terms of remote care, but in order to optimize and expedite the workflow for the doctors. Dr. Jan is hopeful that through embracing digitalization, the burden on doctors will lessen leading to less burnout. “We want to improve the experience of patients when they have to engage with the healthcare system. We want to improve the experience of doctors in order to curtail, a little bit, this burnout trend. And in the end, that should lead to lower costs.” Dr. Jan stated. Thus giving us the perfect blend of happy patients, happy doctors, and happy payers.
Watch the video down below for more details and to hear our full discussion about the following topics:
- Can we sustain the current level of innovation in remote care and telehealth
- How has the attitude towards AI changed over time
- What Dr. Jan is most excited about in healthcare IT
To learn more about Philips, visit their website: https://www.philips.com/global
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