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As more medical devices that measure biodata show up in the market, healthcare electronics giant Philips is betting on technology that can not only organize them, but communicate their data to other systems.
“There are a thousand devices out there everywhere, from my Oura ring to a Garmin watch, all these biosensors,” Jeff DiLullo, chief region leader of Philips North America told Endpoints News in an interview. “But it’s the Wild West if you think about trying to organize this into patient records and harmonize all this disparate data.”
Philips, which shed the word “electronics” from its name in 2013, sells a range of technology, spanning ultrasound and radiology to patient monitoring. It’s hoping to continue working on technology that can integrate different devices, but also on technology that can communicate with other non-Philips tech, DiLullo said.
“That’s where you really can get scalable hospitals as opposed to trying to drive a Philips solution or a GE Healthcare solution,” he said.
In May, multinational electronics giant LG launched a spinoff business, a health tech platform that connects apps and remote monitoring devices to help patients get continued care after they leave the hospital, in a bid to branch out from hardware and make money from software.
The pandemic hurt many hospitals financially, and alongside staffing struggles, forced them to think about how to deploy technology at scale, DiLullo told Endpoints. “Trauma is a good inducer of innovation,” he said.