AMSTERDAM and LEBANON, N.H., Nov. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced an agreement with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) to implement Philips' eICU program technology. The program aims to help reduce mortality, length of stay, and ventilation days while providing patients the care they need, wherever they are located. D-HH is the latest health system to work with Philips to implement a tele-ICU program, further demonstrating the growing global momentum and interest in virtual health care and remote monitoring solutions like Philips eICU.

Hospitals and health systems across the globe are facing increased pressures – from lack of beds and overcrowding, to changing reimbursement models and an ongoing intensivist shortage. Only 47 percent of ICUs in U.S. hospitals currently employ full-time intensivists1, a number that is expected to continue to drop. In widely dispersed communities, leveraging telehealth technology can help rural hospitals increase access to quality care by providing the bedside team with expert guidance and 24/7 monitoring of critically ill patients. By incorporating Philips eICU technology, D-HH will be able to build on its mission of providing each person the best care, in the right place, at the right time, every time – whether at the health system's flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, or at the patient's local hospital with the support of specialists based at DHMC.

"As New Hampshire's only tertiary care medical facility, demand for our services is high," noted Dartmouth-Hitchcock Chief Clinical Officer Edward J. Merrens, MD. "The use of telemedicine across the D-HH system and around the region aligns with our mission of providing the best care in the appropriate setting, whether it be at DHMC or at the patient's local hospital with the support of Dartmouth-Hitchcock specialists."

"For Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the tele-ICU program will help their clinicians better serve their patient population while eliminating the need to travel to get that level of specialized care," said Felix Baader, Business Leader of Monitoring Analytics at Philips. "This same technology can also help health systems better manage physician burnout, or in other cases, capacity management. Health systems face many different challenges across the globe, and it's gratifying to see how one solution can be adapted to address unique challenges to achieve the same goal: better care and better outcomes."

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