In an ongoing effort to care for an aging population, Philips Healthcare announced its new HealthCare Informatics Solution and Service (HISS) business group last week.

The group will act as a consulting and solutions partner to help hospitals and health systems improve patient care, increase access to care and develop a more cost-effective health care delivery network.

According to U.N. statistics, the percentage of the population 65 and over has been rising since the 1990s. The number of persons aged 60 years or older in the world was estimated to be 605 million in 2000 and is expected to grow to nearly 2 billion by 2050.

"It's clear that health care organizations are being squeezed in a number of ways," Jeroen Tas, head of the new business unit, wrote to DOTmed News in an email. "These organizations need a trusted partner who can help them lower costs and enhance the quality of care."

At the same time, information technology is providing new solutions that are allowing providers to create a more holistic view of their patients, Tas wrote.

Cloud, social networking and mobile technologies enable patients to manage their health, get support from friends and family and connect with people in similar conditions. Tas wrote that Philips foresees that the "Internet of Things" and wearable devices will play a role in the near future.

HISS will provide a multitude of services, including a common digital health care platform, advanced informatics, big data analytics and consulting services.

"Health care systems today are changing the way they operate, how decisions are made and how patients receive care," Tas wrote. "This requires a significant overhaul of complex organizations, as well as the associated actionable data about each patient population they serve."

Philips sees this group as the next step in the evolution to respond to the increasing demand by major health care systems all over the world. Last year, Philips signed a 15-year alliance with Georgia Regents Medical Center, enabling the center to transition to a new business model where Philips will supply Georgia with a comprehensive range of advanced medical technologies and imaging equipment, planning and maintenance services, and consumer products with pre-determined monthly operational costs over a 15-year period.

Philips also announced last week the new set-up of its sales organization that will support the changing marketplace. It will focus more on Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) and larger accounts but will still support stand-alone hospitals and the non-hospital market.

"HISS will represent the next step in the evolution of Philips, and you can expect to see more partnerships like this one come to fruition with the formation of this new business group," Tas wrote.

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