Philips Launches Multi-Pronged Connected Health Campaign

Philips is a household name in Europe and much of the world, but not so much in the United States. Even though its brands like Norelco, Sonicare, and more recently Philips Hue Lighting have been around for years, the parent company is not well known here. Now Philips is betting big that it can do for connected healthcare what no company has done before – create an end to end system of devices and applications for adults of all ages.

Philips is by no means the first to offer a suite of connected devices. There are already a fistful in the market, among them, Qardio, iHealth, Withings, and A&D Medical. For the most part they are putting together activity trackers, blood pressure cuffs, connected scales, and sometimes thermometers. They generally connect via Bluetooth to a smartphone app that will let you monitor your activities and connect through the cloud to relevant third parties. But several factors set the Philips effort apart. On the hardware side, all of the Philips devices are “medical grade” and listed with the FDA. That means they must meet reliability and performance standards.

Changing Behavior

Philips is also working on the psychology of wellness, emphasizing a comprehensive psychological approach to changing behavior so users will get and stay healthy. Philips hopes that by providing psychological backup with coaching and encouragement through its HealthSuite Health app it can help users take small but realizable steps towards wellness.

The Need

Philips cites statistics that 80% of people over age 50 have at least one chronic condition. According to Eline De Graaf, the company’s North American Marketing Director:

We know that up to 90% of cardiovascular disease is preventable Just by managing certain lifestyle behaviors. So we talk about ‘why are we not preventing more of these chronic conditions? Why are we not all making these changes that are needed that we can all make to prevent these type of diseases?’ And I think that’s where this behavioral change and I think the clinical model comes in.

Mark Aloia, a health psychologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver also serves as Vice President and Global Lead, Behavior Change, Philips Healthcare. He says it’s all about keeping people motivated to accomplish the things they are capable of achieving:

We know we have an obesity problem. I was obese when I was a kid (take my word for it he’s skinny now) And you know when you feel a certain way and you know sometimes what you need to do. Sometimes when the goal seems too lofty, it’s hard to motivate. So one of the things that we think about doing is understand it from the perspective of the person trying to change and focus on things like small steps. So let me give you an example of that. When you are pre-diabetic and there’s data out there from over five thousand people that if you lose 5% of your weight and you keep it off for nine months, your ten-year conversion to diabetes is decreased by over fifty percent, even if you gain that weight back over the next seven or eight years. That’s that really what our focus on small steps is about. It’s not about having to get back to your high school weight, it’s about taking the small steps today that are going to pay off down the road.

The way Philips implements this is by providing coaching cues through the HealthSuite Health app based on the data that the user and the connected devices provide. This data can be shared through a HIPAA-compliant cloud based system with health care providers, caregivers, family, or friends who can monitor the user’s progress and offer feedback.

The Device Suite

There are five initial products in the new Philips Personal Health Program ecosystem. All five provide information to the free Philips Healthsuite Health app available in both the Apple and Google Play stores. The first five are:

• The health watch, which continuously and automatically measures a wide range of health biometrics, including heart rate, activity, and sleep patterns. It helps people seeking to prevent or manage lifestyle-induced chronic conditions by providing accurate measurements, enabling people at risk of disease to track their health on a day-to-day basis.  It uses a USB charger and has an easy to read display that we found relatively easy to manipulate, though it still takes a bit of learning. Price is $250. 

• There are two blood pressure monitors, an upper arm blood pressure monitor and wrist blood pressure monitor, which allow you to measure your systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as your heart rate. Price for the Upper arm device is $100 while the wrist version is $90. 

• The body analysis scale, which measures weight, estimates body fat (BAI), and calculates BMI. $100, available in black or white. 

• The ear thermometer, which allows you to accurately measure body temperature in two seconds. $60. 

This may be Philips’ most publicized jump into connected healthcare, but it’s certainly not its first. The company has quietly been marketing a suite of products to monitor those with chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure and COPD, and those who are aging in place. Philips offers a monitored emergency alert service called “Lifeline” which comes with several different device offerings and pricing models. One option is a smartphone app that connects with the Philips 24/7 monitoring service.

Philips also offers CareSage, a service to health care systems that monitors aging in place populations. The “Frail and Elderly” program uses elements of the Lifeline system as well as as other Philips connected devices to both gather information and analyze it to not only monitor, but also to predict the likelihood of an upcoming incident such as a fall that is likely to require emergency medical transport and hospitalization. At a time when the health care system is being incentivized to reduce repeat hospitalizations, systems like this can be both lifesavers and cost savers.

Another element in the system is CareSensus, which uses non-camera based sensors to keep track of how seniors are living, including exercise. The data from the sensors goes back into the cloud where it is incorporated into the predictive analytics model.

Philips also has an aggressive sleep apnea program through its Respironics Division, incorporating the DreamWear sleep apnea mask, the DreamStation CPAP device, and the DreamMapper app to keep track of sleep history and trends. The company says the system has some six million users.

Philips already has a solid reputation as a major supplier of diagnostic and monitoring equipment to hospitals and health care facilities. While some of the company’s sub-brands such as Norelco and Sonicare are recognizable, overall the company still doesn’t have a high profile in the U.S. The new line of devices shows the company has the technology it needs, but whether it will be able to successfully market its brand as the go-to product line in connected health and wellness remains to be seen.

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