Press Information
December 9, 2010
Philips to bring the benefits of advanced patient monitoring to general care
departments in hospitals
Boeblingen, Germany – Already a market leader in patient monitoring solutions for critical
care settings in hospitals, Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today
announced that it will introduce IntelliVue Guardian Solutions a comprehensive range of
monitoring solutions designed specifically for hospital-based general care settings. The
portfolio will include Philips new IntelliVue MP5SC Spot-Check monitor—the world’s first
portable spot-check monitor to include a built-in Early Warning Scoring system designed to
assist caregivers in the assessment of routine vital signs measurements—and wireless
sensors designed for ambulatory patients that require frequent monitoring.
“With these new solutions we are broadening our portfolio to meet the rapidly emerging
needs of general care departments in hospitals. I am convinced that these solutions are a
landmark in patient vital sign acquisition and will help simplify clinical workflows and improve
the quality of patient care," said Steve Rusckowski, CEO, for Philips Healthcare. “Because of
our expertise in patient monitoring and the considerable market potential of vital sign
acquisition in low acuity settings in hospitals, this is an important growth area for Philips.”
As a result of trends in aging world populations, medical personnel in general wards are
being confronted with gradually more older and sicker patients. In addition, because
Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are becoming an increasingly critical resource, patients are
being discharged earlier from ICUs into general care departments. At the same time, there is
an increased focus in hospitals on the prevention of medical errors and adverse events. One
method of maintaining close supervision is to frequently monitor a patient’s vital body signs
and generate an automatic notification in the event of abnormalities. Today, however, only
40 percent of beds in the hospital are equipped with patient monitoring systems.
"Current trends in healthcare demand the frequent monitoring of many patients outside the
Intensive Care Unit, and today's manual monitoring procedures are often no longer
sufficient," said Andreas Hvarfner, MD, Ph of Lund University Hospital in Lund, Sweden.
"Although warning signs are typically present early on, critical changes in the patient's health
status are not always detected in time. Intelligent monitoring and early warning systems can
help us to intervene at an early stage in order to avoid the occurrence of critical events,
which may considerably increase patient safety."
Philips expects the first orders for general ward solutions to come from hospitals in the U.S.,
Scandinavia, United Kingdom and Australia, since hospitals in these countries have already
established so-called Rapid Response Teams. A Rapid Response Team is a group of critical
care specialists that intervenes as soon as a patient’s condition deteriorates critically.
Studies have shown that employing Rapid Response Teams can considerably reduce
mortality and morbidity rates. It is expected that early warning systems, such as those
featured in Philips new range of solutions, could support and bolster the efficiency of such
teams.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Steve Klink
Philips Corporate Communications
Tel: + 31 20 5977415
E-mail: steve.klink@philips.com
Ian Race
Philips Healthcare
Tel: +1 (978) 659-4624
E-mail: ian.race@philips.com
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified health
and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As
a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design
into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand
promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs more
than 118,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of US 32.3 billion
in 2009, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare,
energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products
for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving
and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at
www.philips.com/newscenter.
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