Royal Philips has made headlines in recent years for the multitude of managed equipment service (MES) contracts it’s signed in the U.S. — and now it’s making its way through Spain. In an eight-year, €77 million agreement with Andalusian Health Service, Philips will work to make its clinical hospital the most technologically advanced in the region.

"It’s no longer just about supplying technology; we’re also offering long-term partnership models that combine and guarantee technology, innovation, training and service new, flexible ways to offer long-term financial stability," Steve Klink, director of communications and senior press officer at Philips Group Communications, told HCB News. "Over this same time period, we’ve also seen growing demand for strategic advice on choosing the right technology and regional care delivery based on local patient populations."

Philips is going to implement a technology management model and is taking responsibility for the maintenance, upgrading and renewal of the medical equipment. Over 90 percent of the hospital’s equipment will be renewed.

The hospital will have a fully digital pathology lab, which will be the first in the country. The lab will be equipped with Philips’ advanced digital pathology solutions including its digital pathology image management system and data analytics platform.

"Our managed equipment services model consists of several components, and each customer can select a different set of components," said Klink. "More specifically, this partnership included our advanced digital pathology solutions, which was the first time that this part of our portfolio was included in such an agreement."

Other Philips equipment that will be installed in the hospital includes a 3T MR scanner, four CT scanners and two systems for image-guided minimally-invasive therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

As part of the partnership, Philips will make the new hospital campus a benchmark for joint research projects to address clinical research and improvement of care processes. The company will also train the professionals on how to use the new technologies and perform clinical procedures.

To date, Philips has carried out 40 MES contracts around the world. A few of the recent partnerships the company entered into were with Westchester Medical Center Health and Marin County Hospital in the U.S., Heart Hospital Tampare in Finland and Karolinska Hospital in Sweden.

In Spain, Philips is also involved in a 10-year agreement with the Santa Creu | Sant Pau Hospital that started in 2009, and an eight-year agreement with the University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe in Valencia that started in 2010.

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