New facility to expand Philips’ healthcare and digital capabilities

Philips’ new facility will include a  tele-healthcare centre that will enable hospitals  to remotely monitor and treat patients at home. 

Published on 08.09.2014

Dutch conglomerate Royal Philips yesterday broke ground for a new facility that will drive the group’s ambition to further expand its healthcare and digital capabilities amid Asia’s growing demand for innovative lifestyle solutions.

Located at its existing Toa Payoh campus — which is also Philips’ Asia-Pacific headquarters — the 38,000sqf facility will include a new tele-healthcare centre that will enable hospitals to remotely monitor and treat patients at home, group chief executive Frans van Houten said yesterday.

“With the new centre, we aim to improve patient health and lower treatment costs by monitoring patient conditions and reducing the need to hospitalise them,” he said. “We see the world’s population ageing, and (many) may have to live with chronic diseases for many years. We want to engage patients and care providers (and) experiment with integrated care models that are predictive and proactive.”

The new facility will also house a connected lighting system that will allow employees to control their lighting with their personal smart devices.

Full details of the facility — which costs a “significant” amount of investment — are still in the making, but construction will begin next month and be completed by the first half of 2016, a spokesperson said.

Tele-health broadly encompasses remote monitoring of and care support for chronic disease patients through digital devices. Last week, Philips announced a partnership with Eastern Health Alliance and Changi General Hospital to pilot such a programme for heart failure patients.

These moves mark Philips’ growing focus on services in Asia, which accounts for more than 35 per cent of the group’s revenue, said Mr Van Houten, adding: “We are looking to create a future that’s less about stand-alone products and much more about solutions.”

Philips, which has been in Singapore since 1951, has a staff strength of about 2,500 here. The company’s ongoing transformation is a perfect fit for the Republic’s plan to become an innovation hub, Economic Development Board (EDB) chairman Leo Yip said yesterday at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“(The new Philips facility) is aligned with the EDB’s vision for Singapore to be the digital innovation capital in Asia. Digitisation will be a key driver for the future of business, and we hope to see more companies like Philips developing and adopting digital solutions from Singapore as a growth engine,” he said.

Countries: Singapore
Export Action Plan