Philips announced plans to integrate BioIntelliSense’s health-tracking sticker into its remote patient monitoring programs, designed to observe at-risk patients after they head home from the hospital.
BioIntelliSense debuted this past January, with an FDA-cleared multisensor patch capable of logging not just vital signs, but symptoms—including individual events such as sneezes, coughs and vomiting.
Philips plans to use the company’s BioSticker, with its 30-day battery life, to help monitor people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart failure, as well as to support its telehealth programs. This also includes keeping clinicians connected with COVID-19 patients who may not require hospitalization, while watching for signs of deterioration.
“With more patients interacting with their doctors from home and more hospitals developing strategies to virtually engage with their patients, remote patient monitoring is now, more than ever, an essential tool,” said Roy Jakobs, who was named chief business leader for Philips’ connected care offerings earlier this year.
By monitoring signs such as skin temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, overall activity level and the frequency of coughs, Philips hopes the system can trigger earlier interventions in people quarantined at home with the coronavirus.
“Multi-parameter sensors are the natural next phase for remote monitoring, especially at a time when more patients are engaging with their physicians from home,” said James Mault, founder and CEO of BioIntelliSense.
“Clinicians need medical-grade monitoring and algorithmic clinical insights for COVID-19 exposure, symptoms and management,” Mault said. “Accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis, the practice of medicine has been irreversibly enlightened as to the safety and efficacy of virtual care.”
Under the collaboration, the BioSticker will first be used by the U.S. service provider Healthcare Highways across seven monitoring programs, including aimed at COVID-19. The others will focus on heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, total joint replacement, cancer and asthma.
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Meanwhile, Philips also announced a 10-year contract worth up to $100 million with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to expand its tele-ICU and connected critical care programs, as well as work in diagnostic imaging, sleep solutions and remote patient monitoring.
The VA manages 1,800 ICU beds nationwide, but—like much of the industry—has greatly expanded its telehealth work during the COVID-19 pandemic. From February to May, the VA’s number of video-to-home appointments exploded from about 10,000 up to 120,000 per week.