Chief Executive Officer,
Philips Middle East, Turkey & Africa
Royal Philips has been present in the Middle East region for many years. The company has been working in close partnership with the UAE and been an integral part of the country’s healthcare landscape since the mid-1970s – collaborating with local stakeholders to provide state-of-the-art technologies and solutions, transfer knowledge and develop local talent. Middle East Health speaks to Vincenzo Ventricelli, Chief Executive Officer, Philips Middle East, Turkey & Africa, about the company’s participation at Arab Health 2022, their latest products and their activities in the region.
Middle East Health: Why is Philips Healthcare always a repeat participant at Arab Health?
Vincenzo Ventricelli: As a health technology company, Philips is committed to making the world healthier and more sustainable through innovation. Arab Health provides an invaluable opportunity to connect with like-minded stakeholders and potential partners; to listen closely to developing needs, and to introduce them to Philips’ robust portfolio of products and services. We are looking forward to co-creating solutions that help improve outcomes, patient and staff experience and productivity across the region, and so increasingly delivering value-based care.
MEH: What products and services is Philips announcing at Arab Health 2022?
VV: At Arab Health 2022, we are showcasing our portfolio of AI-enabled, scalable and smart connected solutions that are helping to build a more robust, agile and sustainable healthcare system.
Our new and enhanced AI-enabled solutionsfeature an integrated approach across the imaging and connected care enterprise focused on critical areas to help meet the challenges facing clinicians today.
Among these solutions, Philips is launching its new MR 5300 for customers in the META region at Arab Health, which aims to simplify and automate complex clinical and operational tasks allowing a routine MR exam set-up to occur in less than a minute. In addition, Philips is also showcasing its newest solution for precision diagnosis with the spectral detector-based Spectral Computed Tomography (CT) 7500, which delivers high-quality spectral images to improve disease characterization and reduce rescans and follow-ups, all at the same dose levels as conventional scans.
Philips is also demonstrating its General Ward Solutions, offering the next generation in smart vital sign monitoring systems; Philips’ telehealth solutions and capabilities to enable customers to extend where, when, and how care is delivered; and its managed technology services, which provide comprehensive vendor-neutral solutions designed to guide and support healthcare provider in achieving optimized business outcomes.
The MR 5300 and the Spectral CT 7500 are pending regulatory approval – CE mark/US FDA approval as well as country clearance.
MEH: Philips and the UAE-based telecoms company du have formed a partnership. What is this about?
VV: Strategic initiatives and partnerships will continue to be central to making the world healthier and more sustainable, which is our ultimate ambition.
du and Philips partnered to accelerate a data-driven healthcare transformation in the UAE. Philips signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaboratively accelerate the critical, data-driven transformation of healthcare in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in support of the Dubai Health Strategy 2021. This first-of-its-kind partnership focuses collective efforts on realizing value-based care by improving patient and healthcare professionals’ experiences, delivering better health outcomes, at a lower cost of care across the healthcare continuum.
We recognize that ICT and telecommunication in healthcare allows for faster transmission of information, as well as digitization of complex data, which will accelerate efficient interaction between healthcare professionals and patients. Moreover, technology-enabled care can benefit healthcare professionals and empower them to deliver quality care from anywhere in the world
MEH: What role is AI technology playing in advancing healthcare?
VV: AI represents a dramatic opportunity to improve healthcare by turning data into actionable insights that enable more precise and personalized care across the health continuum. Many solutions with AI already exist today but the next true leap forward is to integrate offerings into seamless and complete disease-focused solutions.
Philips is already deploying AI-based solutions for diagnostic imaging, image-guided minimally invasive therapy, radiology workflow enhancement, clinical decision support, and patient monitoring, to remote connected care, sleep quality improvement and several consumer propositions – all designed to help clinicians do their jobs better and consumers to stay healthy.
According to the Philips Future Health Index 2021, healthcare leaders globally are prioritizing investment in AI to optimize operational efficiency (19%) and anticipate doing so even more three years from now (37%). In addition, healthcare leaders expect to invest in AI to integrate diagnostics (32%), predict outcomes (30%), and for clinical decision support (24%) in the short-term.
Over the last two years – accelerated by the pandemic – countries in the META region have invested in the foundational infrastructure to enable easier and faster adoption and deployment of digital technologies establishing a solid foundation for the future. Now the focus must shift to how we collectively leverage its true potential.
While technology provides many more opportunities, it also contributes to the growing complexity of the healthcare IT landscape with even more disparate processes that must be maintained, supported, and standardized across an entire enterprise environment. To break down these barriers, Philips’ Interoperability Solutions effectively create an ecosystem of care around the patient by ensuring that important information from every clinical touchpoint – blood tests, scans, prescribed medication, and treatments administered at different care settings – are on hand to make timely diagnosis and decisions.
If we do it right – which we at Philips are committed to do – the correct combinations of systems, smart devices, AI & software and services can realize true patient-centric healthcare, that will translate to care the way it should be.
MEH: A key theme this year is healthcare transformation. What does healthcare transformation mean to you?
VV: I believe that true healthcare transformation requires us to re-envision what healthcare looks like not just in the hospital, but in patients’ communities and homes; this means moving from a sick-care approach, to a healthcare approach, where prevention is as important as medical care.
It means focusing on prevention and wellness – and on ‘never admissions’ where patients are educated and supported to manage their care at home under their healthcare provider’s supervision.
It is about finding innovative ways to support healthcare providers in the hospital, so the experience is better for them and their patients. And it is about using artificial intelligence to free up the expertise of healthcare providers by reducing tedious tasks and connecting medical records and data sets to allow care to be extended outside of the hospital walls and reach patients at every step of their journey. Through a unique understanding of clinical issues and continuous collaboration with customers, Philips is well positioned to provide the connected care solutions that are already making this vision a reality.
We will know that we’ve transformed healthcare when the healthcare system is delivering against the quadruple aim of – better health outcomes, at a lower cost of care, while improving the patient experience and the experience of healthcare professionals.
MEH: As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges is your business still facing, and how are you addressing these?
VV: Like many businesses and industries around the world we have also faced headwinds related to e-components, shipping, and prolonged supply chain delays. To minimize the immediate impact and long-term resilience, we are continuously working with our partners to create a more agile supply chain across the board.
While COVID-19 will remain with us for some time, we are seeing the huge benefits of vaccination programmes, as advised by authoritative bodies such as the World Health Organization, resulting in far fewer hospital admissions and lower mortality rates. The health of our people – staff, partners, customers, and suppliers – remain an ongoing priority. We are widely appealing to all our stakeholders to get an approved vaccine. In addition, we are paying special attention to maintaining physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being, with dedicated resources and support for our teams.
