Philips partners on Australia's first remote ICU monitoring program

Philips is teaming up with Sydney’s Macquarie University and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta on Australia’s first remote intensive care unit monitoring program. The tie-up will allow for the continuous monitoring of patients in Atlanta by local and Sydney-based teams.

The collaboration uses Philips’ remote intensive care unit (eICU) technology and will place Emory Healthcare intensivists and critical care nurses at Macquarie University’s MQ Health campus in Sydney, according to a statement. The daytime coverage in Atlanta coupled with the nighttime coverage from Sydney allows for the round-the-clock monitoring of Emory patients without clinicians having to work through the night.

"We are operating in a time when connected health solutions can truly make a difference in a patient's experience," said Kevin Barrow, managing director of Philips Australia and New Zealand, in the statement. "We know that funding for critical care and critical access is not growing despite increases in demand driven by population growth. This program uses a proactive and continuous care model that enable the right care to be delivered remotely at the right time."

Philips’ eICU allows healthcare professionals from a centralized eICU site to offer continuous care for critically ill patients. In addition to bringing round-the-clock coverage to hospitals with intensive care physician and nurse shortages, it also reduces the need for transporting patients between critical care centers, Philips said.

In a study, patients at hospitals that used the eICU tech were 26% more likely to survive the ICU and were discharged from the ICU 20% faster than those at hospitals that did not use eICU, Philips said in the statement.

While the partnership currently provides continuous monitoring for patients in Atlanta, Barrow sees opportunities at home: “I am confident that the application of these kinds of solutions will shape the future of healthcare,” he said. “If we are able to do this across continents we can certainly replicate it locally, connecting Australian clinicians with patients in need across regional and remote areas."