Another innovation is the cloud-based Philips Mobile Obstetrics Monitoring. This clinical software supports the first 1,000 days of life, from prenatal care through labor and delivery to postnatal care for mother and child until the child is two years old. Mobile Obstetrics Monitoring connects patients with community health workers, midwives and doctors, enabling a logged pathway of care. Patients are supported with educational information and tools, caregivers with clinical decision support and a pregnancy risk score.
Philips Mobile Obstetric Monitoring is deployed across the world, including deployments in India, Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. In several clinical studies, the software has shown that it can radically reduce maternal mortality while improving the detection and referral of high-risk pregnancies [3].
Philips also offers a free app called Pregnancy+. It supports women throughout their pregnancy by providing proactive, personalized health information, including nutrition and exercise tips, labor information and images that reflect the baby’s development.
How does Philips ensure it meets the needs of local communities?
Olesya Struk, Senior Director Group Sustainability at Philips: Partnerships and cross-sectoral collaboration are critical to providing and accelerating access to health care in low- and middle-income countries. For example, Philips is working with private companies and NGOs in the Digital Connected Care Coalition to advance the uptake of digital healthcare in underserved communities, and we are working closely with UN agencies such as the World Bank and the World Health Organization as part of Universal Health Insurance 2030 Constituency private sector.
On a project basis, we make sure that complementary competencies are brought together in a targeted manner and that sustainable solutions are created. For example, working with governments and UNICEF, Philips implemented a cloud-based monitoring and assessment solution to improve device management in 100 healthcare facilities across Africa and demonstrate improvements in device availability. Most recently, the Philips Foundation and RAD-AID International announced a multi-year partnership to leverage Philips’ expertise in mobile ultrasound services to improve access to virtual care in hard-to-reach areas for 50 million people.
