Healthworks, Inc., a specialty healthcare services company, and Royal Philips Electronics have announced a collaboration to provide clinical specialists with new education programs and training resources across a range of clinical subject areas including peripheral angiography, interventional radiology, electrophysiology and invasive cardiology. These programs - available both online and through live, instructor led seminars - are designed for individual cardiovascular and imaging technologists, as well as nursing professionals, working in healthcare provider organizations such as hospitals, imaging centers and physician group practices.

The collaboration will include the co-marketing of a series of web-based seminars, the creation and instructor-led delivery of clinical content, and the combining of Healthworks' library of multimedia content with Philips Healthcare's clinical offerings. The programs will be offered at Philips training campuses and delivered globally on the Philips Learning Center, directly addressing the market insights identified during in-depth interviews with customers across various clinical specialties and global markets.

Driving the need for this education is the rapid growth and diversity of invasive procedures being performed in hospitals across the country. For instance, more than 4.2 million invasive patient cases are administered in cardiac catheterization labs each year according to industry market research firm IMV. What's more, the documented shortage of qualified healthcare personnel, coupled with ongoing efforts among hospitals to curb their expenditures, has created the growing need for clinical specialists to be cross-trained in multiple procedural areas to meet rising patient care demands.
The US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, reports that employment for trained cardiovascular technologists will increase by 26% through the year 2016. This demand reflects the fact that coronary heart disease remains the number one disease in the US.

"Philips' significant commitment to helping educate healthcare professionals so they can perform at their best is clearly demonstrated through this collaboration," said Sandra Wolfe-Korejwo, President and CEO of Healthworks. "Our subject matter experts' ability to develop and deliver clinical content in tandem with Philips' Clinical educators serves the market and accomplishes key objectives of our strategic expansion plan."