Philips Adds Six Wearable and Hospital-at-Home Partners to Its Patient Monitoring Ecosystem

Royal Philips said on August 6 that it has formed collaborations with six companies to bring data from wearable sensors and hospital-at-home technology into its patient monitoring ecosystem, so health systems can follow patients from admission through recovery at home, according to the company's announcement.

The partners are Blue Spark Technologies, Caretaker Medical, Cuviva, LifeSignals, Respiree and smartQare. Philips, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, said the collaborations expand the range of continuous patient measurements that can be integrated into its systems, such as its Patient Information Center (PIC) iX. The company did not disclose financial terms.

What each partner adds

According to Philips, the partner products are:

• Blue Spark Technologies' TempTraq, a wearable disposable patch for continuous core body temperature monitoring.
• Caretaker Medical's VitalStream, a wearable for continuous non-invasive blood pressure and hemodynamic monitoring.
• Cuviva's hospital-at-home IT platform for digital monitoring and real-time communication.
• LifeSignals' UbiqVue Multiparameter Biosensor, a single-use, wireless chest-worn device that monitors two-channel ECG, blood oxygen, pulse rate, respiration rate, temperature, posture and motion.
• Respiree's 1Bio platform, 1Bio AI and RS001 wearable biosensor for continuous cardio-respiratory monitoring.
• smartQare's viQtor and Healthdot wearable biosensors, which track pulse, respiration, blood oxygen, skin temperature and activity.

Philips said not all of the products are available in all markets.

Monitoring beyond the bedside

The company framed the move as part of a shift toward monitoring patients across care settings as health systems move higher-acuity services outside the hospital. "Monitoring is no longer just about what happens at the bedside," said Sangdo Kim, category leader for NextGen Acute and Transitional Care Monitoring at Philips. "Healthcare organizations need a more connected approach that helps clinicians maintain visibility into patient status across care settings."

Philips said the new capabilities complement its existing connected care products, including its Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCOT) service, which lets clinicians remotely monitor appropriate cardiac patients for up to 30 days after an inpatient or emergency department evaluation. According to the release, the MCOT system is contraindicated for patients with potentially life-threatening arrhythmias that require inpatient monitoring.

The announcement was also reported by Medical Product Outsourcing, which carried the company's description of the partnerships and Kim's comments.