By Healthcare Facilities Today

ANDOVER, Mass. - Mercy, one of the earliest providers of telehealth for critical care in the U.S., and Royal Philips today announced that they will collaborate to expand Mercy's telehealth services to include medical and surgical hospital units. Telehealth enables clinicians to remotely monitor and manage patients in any location and is one of the fastest growing care delivery models. Mercy is currently managing 430 intensive care unit beds with the Philips eICU program and multiple Emergency Departments with the Philips Telestroke Program, and will soon extend these services to medical and surgical hospital units.

As patient acuity in hospitals continues to increase, care of patients on medical and surgical units represents an area of substantial unmet need and consumption of health care resources. By 2017, Mercy is planning to provide the Philips eAcute program to 1,500 acute care beds not only within the Mercy system, but across the U.S.

The sixth largest Catholic health care system in the U.S., Mercy operates 32 hospitals and 300 outpatient facilities across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, as well as outreach ministries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Mercy's eICU and telestroke programs have been supported by Philips technology since 2006. The positive impact of telehealth on length of stay, readmissions and patient safety is a game changer and why Mercy is expanding into acute care.

"We have never been more convinced of the power of telehealth to improve patient access and outcomes and reduce costs," said Lynn Britton, Mercy's president and CEO, who will be participating in the "Telemedicine's Expansive Potential" panel at this week's U.S. News & World Report's Hospital of Tomorrow conference in Washington, DC. "Adding acute care telehealth services is a natural extension of our successful eICU and telestroke programs and will allow us to support our mission to provide quality care to patients in need, regardless of location."

Mercy expects to launch the Philips-enabled acute care program by April 2014. In addition to bi-directional audio and video access in patient rooms, the program will include several key features that address:

• Readmissions reduction - Recorded discharge instructions, uploaded into

a patient engagement portal to reinforce self-care and adherence to

therapies at home.

• Increased patient safety - Automated monitoring of vital signs with

remote triggers around early warning signs, to avoid complications,

including cardio-pulmonary arrest.

• Increased patient satisfaction - Video visitation, enabling patients to

easily interact with family members and friends.

• Clinical best practices - Including early detection of sepsis, pressure

ulcer management and fall prevention.

Mercy's acute care program is designed to complement its home care technology provided by Philips, all of which will be critical components of the Mercy virtual care center, one of the first freestanding facilities of its kind in the U.S. The center will be staffed by hundreds of health care providers linked electronically to Mercy and other partner hospitals, via telehealth technology.

"With the right leadership, people and processes in place, Mercy has become a model for how to roll out a coordinated telehealth strategy that truly changes the way patients receive care," said Brian Rosenfeld, M.D., Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Philips Healthcare Hospital to Home. "Our acute care program builds on the success we've had in the ICU, Emergency Department and the home, and we will continue to partner with leading health systems like Mercy to expand telehealth programs across the country."

For more information on Philips Hospital to Home coordinated telehealth programs, please visit: http://healthcaresolutions.philips.com/solution/hospital-to-home#clinical

About Royal Philips Royal Philips is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2012 sales of EUR 24.8 billion and employs approximately 114,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Mercy Mercy, with one of the largest single-hub electronic ICU programs in the nation, launched one of the first comprehensive, integrated electronic health records in the country. In addition, Mercy is the first Epic user in the country to implement EHR-automated care paths, including the development of a virtual sepsis unit that automatically searches for more than 800 warning signs and greatly reduces mortality, length of hospital stay and costs. As part of building a new model of care, Mercy has also developed one of the world's top 10 health care supply chains.