Philips and County of Renfrew Paramedic Services Launch Population Health Management Pilot

MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Royal Philips and the County of Renfrew Paramedic Services today announced a 12-month pilot that will equip the County of Renfrew Paramedic services with the Philips Tailored Ambulatory Care Program, enabling them to remotely monitor patients in their homes and prioritize them for intervention.

The pilot’s goal is to determine how expanded access to care through technology-enabled patient health monitoring impacts hospitalization while improving patient satisfaction and engagement.

With a population of 100,000 spread over a coverage area of 12,000 km², Renfrew’s vast geography is the largest county in Ontario. The county’s paramedic service is continually looking for innovative methods to service its residents that have an average age above the provincial average.

This latest pilot enables Renfrew’s Community Paramedics to proactively treat high risk patients in the home. Attending to these patients before their health deteriorates further can prevent emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. For the elderly patient at home, telehealth can afford comfort and increased access to care specialists when they need them most.

“Moving to a population health management model with Philips will allow us to increase the number of patients that receive our support in the community. Our objective is to identify the highest priority patients who require early intervention,” said Michael Nolan, Chief, County of Renfrew Paramedic Services. “We know that responding to early, subtle indicators of deterioration facilitates early intervention and prevents decline in the health of the patients we support. Keeping patients as healthy as they can be in their homes is our ultimate goal.”

Renfrew has selected Philips Population Health Solutions to tackle the primary concerns of managing the highest utilizers of healthcare within the community, namely access to quality care in the most efficient care venue. The pilot will apply Philips unique approach to population health management by introducing both clinician and patient engagement tools:

• eCareCompanion, is a consumer-grade tablet application that allows the patient to have their vitals results automatically uploaded by way of Bluetooth connected measurement tools, including weight, blood pressure, oxygen levels and glucose measurement. The personalized patient tablet application is designed specifically to meet the needs of the pilot participants suffering from multiple co-morbidities and will be used to track their individual health and stay connected to their care teams through audio-visual technology.
• Meanwhile, clinicians will benefit from the clinician application, eCareCoordinator, which presents the required patient information in a meaningful and easy to use format. This information will be remotely monitored by Renfrew’s Community Paramedics and be used to determine where early intervention is needed most.
• Each patient will also be equipped with a patient wearable device to anticipate a fall via the Philips Lifeline with AutoAlert service.

“Philips is focused on providing innovative solutions across the continuum of care to bring greater value to the Canadian Healthcare system, patients, families and caregivers,” said Iain Burns, President and CEO of Philips Canada. “We are excited to be partnering with the County of Renfrew Paramedic Services, a well-respected and innovative organization to demonstrate how our telehealth technology improves access to care for patients in the home.”

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company, headquartered in the Netherlands, is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips’ health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 69,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About The County of Renfrew Paramedic Services

Since 2005 the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service has been serving community of Renfrew County and surroundings. The Service has seen significant growth in this timeframe with the introduction of an increased scope of practice for the paramedic staff as well as increased resources available for deployment throughout the County. The Service strives to achieve the vision of an improved quality of life for the residents and visitors of the County and has focused on three key strategies: Building Capacity, Synergistic Partnerships and Innovation while ensuring services continue to be responsive, appropriate, reliable, and safe. Both Primary and Advanced Care Paramedics within the Service achieve annual Certification Standards for Symptom Relief and Semi-Automated External Defibrillation and work under the medical direction of the Regional Paramedic Program of Eastern Ontario. Continuing medical education and ongoing professional development and training are the cornerstones for the continuous improvement of the Service.