Leading pathology laboratories deploy tele-diagnostics with Philips during the COVID-19 pandemic

November 18, 2020

Pathology laboratories around the globe fully digitize tumor tissue samples to maintain the patient diagnostic experience while providing for staff safetyDigital transformation modernizes cancer care by enabling telehealth and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) while supporting physicians with integrated oncology informatics

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced leading pathology laboratories across North America, Europe, and Asia have implemented full digitization for their histology samples based on the Philips Digital Pathology scanner and imaging-informatics solutions. Digital images are required to unlock the potential of digital pathology. Remote reviewing of pathological cases is essential to prevent delay in critical patient diagnosis and care, particularly during COVID-19.

During the pandemic, many pathologists, oncologists, and radiologists continued their work from home. This created an unprecedented need for home workstations and secure clinical informatics solutions allowing clinicians to read images remotely and enabling real-time virtual collaboration between their multi-disciplinary care teams. Pre-COVID-19, pathology labs that digitized their workflows across different sites reported improved collaboration and an average productivity gain of 21%.

Examples of leading pathology laboratories that recently transformed towards a digital workflow with Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution are:  Mackenzie Health (Canada), Pathology Institute Tel Aviv Sourasky MC (Israel), University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands), St. Olavs Hospital (Norway), Singapore General Hospital SGH (Singapore), Oxford University Hospitals NHS (UK), and NHS Ayrshire & Arran (UK).

"As healthcare becomes more complex and demanding, digitization has become a key enabler for the hospital to provide better care for our patients and to be more efficient. Digital pathology is an example, and our partnership with companies such as Philips with the clinical and technical know-how is important in helping us achieve our goal," said Prof. Kenneth Kwek, Chief Executive Officer at Singapore General Hospital SGH.

"COVID-19 has become a catalyst for change - a defining moment for all of us to reimagine healthcare the way it should be," said Kees Wesdorp, Chief Business Leader, Precision Diagnosis at Philips. "With a focus on the people at the center of cancer care, we work to innovate workflows, remove barriers of fragmented systems, and bring insights directly to care providers to support excellent cancer care."

Shared decision-making, pathway selection and treatment
Philips' solutions for oncology and digital pathology can help transform and enhance the multi-disciplinary workflows, including the oncology tumor board and care pathways process. Critical patient data is integrated for both oncologists, radiologists and pathologists, allowing them to collaborate efficiently, even when working remotely. The Philips platform supports streamlined preparation, enhances review and analysis, and empowers the cancer care team to reach clinical treatment decisions based on disease-specific dashboards, diagnostic images, reports, and structured patient data. Visit Philips Digital Pathology for more information on how Philips is enhancing digital pathology workflows. Visit Philips Live at RSNA 2020 to learn  how Philips integrated workflow solutions connect data, technology and people across the diagnostic enterprise, helping to redefine radiology workflow efficiencies.

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Global Press Office
Tel.: +1 978-221-8919
E-mail : kathy.oreilly@philips.com
Twitter: @kathyoreilly

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being, and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum - from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2019 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 81,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

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Digital pathology at Singapore General Hospital Digital-Award-Hoogeveen

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