The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be spending as much as $100 million over the next 10 years on Philips tele-critical care products.
Along with that category, which is also known as “eICU,” the contract includes diagnostic imaging, sleep solutions and patient monitoring, according to an announcement sent by Philips July 8.
Philips says the pandemic led the VA to ramp up its telehealth volumes from around 10,000 per week pre-crisis to more than 120,000 from February through May.
The VA, which operates 1,800 ICU beds nationwide, will fold the eICU deal into its broader telehealth program.
The eICU piece “enables a co-located team of specially trained critical care physicians and nurses to remotely monitor patients in the ICU regardless of patient location,” Philips says. “Research has shown that patients in eICU settings spend less time in the ICU and have better outcomes.”
The announcement cites market research showing COVID-19 has lifted overall U.S. telehealth from 11% patient participation in 2019 to 46% today.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.