Get Cloud-based Healthcare Info From Philips & Salesforce.com

Royal Philips and salesforce.com has announced a strategic alliance to deliver an open, cloud-based healthcare platform, leveraging Philips' in medical technology, clinical applications and clinical informatics and salesforce.com in enterprise cloud computing, innovation and customer engagement.

The platform will enable medical device and data interoperability, the collection of data and subsequent analysis to enhance clinical decision making by professionals and enabling patients to take a more active role in managing their personal health.

The collaboration has till now resulted in two clinical applications to be launched on the new platform: "Philips eCareCoordinator" and "Philips eCareCompanion".

These care collaboration applications will allow the care team to monitor patients with chronic conditions in their homes and will facilitate Philips' Hospital to Home clinical programs.

"With this strategic alliance, Philips is making great strides to deliver real-time, digital healthcare solutions," said Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Philips . "Healthcare data exists in many different forms and in many different systems today. Together with salesforce.com , we have a tremendous opportunity to reshape and optimize the way healthcare is delivered and provide better access to data across the continuum of care."

The envisioned platform, based on the Salesforce1 Platform, will enable collaboration and workflow, as well as integration of data from multiple sources worldwide, including electronic medical records, diagnostic and treatment information obtained through Philips' imaging equipment, monitoring equipment, personal devices and technologies like Apple's HealthKit.

The cloud-based platform is designed to be scalable with built-in privacy and data security. By combining the data, the platform will allow for analysis that will enhance decision making by professionals and engage patients.

Both Philips and Salesforce.com foresee that the platform, will utilize Philips' clinical data stores and medical device interoperability. It is intended to be open to developers and is expected to result in a vibrant ecosystem of partners creating applications.

As a result, the envisioned platform has the potential to transform both professional healthcare delivery and continuous personal health management.