December 28, 2017 — Philips recently announced that it acquired VitalHealth, a provider of cloud-based population health management solutions for the delivery of personalized care outside of the hospital, for example, in regional care networks. Headquartered in the Netherlands, VitalHealth’s products and services are being used by more than 100 healthcare networks in various countries including the United States, India, China, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The company was founded in 2006 by Mayo Clinic (U.S.) and Noaber Foundation (the Netherlands) and employs approximately 200 employees. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
As care moves from the hospital to lower-cost settings, including the home, there is a need for a more holistic approach to healthcare. Population health management is a proactive approach to improving health and reducing costs for entire patient populations. It involves the aggregation of patient data across multiple health information technology (IT) sources, smart analytics to understand the health needs of the population, navigation and coordination of care within that population, and engagement with each individual patient to improve both clinical and financial outcomes.
Building on the acquisition of Wellcentive in 2016, Philips already offers health informatics to import, aggregate and analyze clinical, claims and financial data across hospital and health systems. Its offering also includes patient engagement programs involving telehealth, personal emergency response and medication management. VitalHealth has a successful portfolio of telehealth applications to give patients the tools they need to play a more active role in their own care. Additionally, VitalHealth has a care coordination platform for care providers to integrate patient information across care settings, and it has the capability to aggregate data from different information systems to provide quick insights into the total population. VitalHealth’s offering will complement Philips Wellcentive’s solution to help improve patient outcomes, as the combined portfolios will enable healthcare providers to better identify and manage high-risk, high-cost patient populations. Moreover, VitalHealth’s platform will strengthen Philips’ HealthSuite digital platform, the company’s digital enabler for the next generation of connected health solutions.
For more information: www.usa.philips.com/healthcare