Skip to main content
Home
  • Main Menu
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Provider
    • Payer
    • Pharma
    • Consumer
    • Investor

Regions

  • ANZ
  • ASIA
  • EMEA
  • Global Edition

Philips, Emory, Royal Perth use time zones, telehealth to provide nighttime care

By Laura Lovett
May 14, 2018
03:03 pm
Share

Night shifts can give clinicians vampire sleep schedules — up at night, sleeping during the day. But a new telehealth partnership plans to use technology and the world's varying timezones as a way to help provide high-quality care around the clock. 

Tech company Royal Philips and US-based Emory Healthcare have teamed up to create a new remote Intensive Care Unit (eICU) monitoring program at the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. As part of the partnership, US intensive care doctors and nurses based in Perth will be able to provide remote night-time critical care support to patients on the other side of the world in Atlanta, Georgia. 

There is a twelve-hour time difference between the two cities, meaning what would be the graveyard shift in Atlanta is a daytime shift in Perth. 

"This partnership is enabling a crucial shift in the delivery of care, impacting clinical outcomes, where technology supports clinicians to deliver more proactive and timely care to patients across the globe," Caroline Clarke, CEO of ASEAN Pacific, Royal Philips, said in a statement. "Access to highly experienced intensivists and critical care nurses is an ongoing challenge for hospitals internationally, and virtual care solutions, like the eICU program, can help deliver much needed expertise to areas where this is lacking. At Philips, we are proud to play our part in creating connected health solutions that break down barriers within healthcare, to impact both providers and patients.”

The program comes after a successful pilot that was run out of Sydney Australia in 2016. It lets clinicians monitor patients in near real-time and use smart algorithms to predict deteriorations in health. Doctors and nurses can communicate with the in-person caregiver through a live video link and can continuously monitor patient health and advise on the best course of treatment. 

According to Director of the Emory eICU Center Cheryl Hiddleson, Emory has decided to send one doctor and one nurse to Perth to make sure the collaborative effort is maintained. 

Philips and Emory Healthcare have a history of partnerships. In 2014 Philips' eICU program was implemented at Emory Healthcare. The program combines audiovisual technology, predictive analytics, and advances reporting capabilities to five hospitals across Georgia. 

In 2017, a report commissioned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and conducted by Abt Associates found that the program saved Emory $4.6 million.

"The eICU represents the future of globalized critical care, transforming the delivery of care from the bedside in partnership with the Informatics Center to any site where the advanced technology can be implemented, extending beyond the barriers of location and time," Tim Buchman, director of the Critical Care Center at Emory Healthcare, said in a statement. "Overnight, when adverse events are most likely to occur for ICU patients, the eICU program allows clinicians to support the Atlanta-based bedside team by recognizing adverse physiology, making critical diagnosis, and intervening as a patient begins to veer off trajectory. We are turning night into day to make the lives of our caregivers as positive as possible while improving care quality and patient outcomes."

Tags: 
Royal Philips, Royal Perth Hospital, Emory Healthcare, telehealth, telemedicine

More regional news

Pharmacist interacting online

Serve You Rx, Amazon Pharmacy partner for home delivery

By
Anthony Vecchione
May 02, 2025
Two people shaking hands with six others watch

DarioHealth closes up to $50M debt refinancing and more funding news

By
Jessica Hagen
May 02, 2025
Smart phone and smart watch

Oura and Google Fitbit partner with academia and others to battle opioid disorder

By
Anthony Vecchione
May 02, 2025
Share

Top Story

Smart phone and smart watch
Oura and Google Fitbit partner with academia and others to battle opioid disorder

Editor's Pick

23andMe files for bankruptcy, CEO Wojcicki resigns
Q&A: Oura appoints its first chief medical officer
First blood pressure management system integrated with DeepSeek in Hong Kong
Emirates will offer inflight telemedicine aboard 300 aircraft
Nanowear announces partnership with Dexcom
Navina raises $55M to expand AI for value-based care

More Stories

Pharmacist interacting online
Serve You Rx, Amazon Pharmacy partner for home delivery
Two people shaking hands with six others watch
DarioHealth closes up to $50M debt refinancing and more funding news
Nurse consulting with patient
Teton unveils 3D hospital digital twin using Denmark's supercomputer
Young person communicating with a cell phone
Talkspace, Bark Technologies partner to monitor children's online activities
Pharmacist giving a person an injection
Plenful scores $50M and more funding news
Person interacting with a healthcare professional via tablet
Teladoc acquires UpLift for $30M, releases first quarter results
Person in a pharmacy setting
Hims & Hers, Novo Nordisk partner to offer weight-loss drug Wegovy
Healthcare professional looking at a PC screen
Commure, HealthTap partner for expanded after-hours care
Home

More News

  • Healthcare IT News
  • Healthcare IT News Australia
  • Healthcare Finance News
  • HIMSS TV

MobiHealthNews

 

Connect

Add MobiHealthNews to your network.
HIMSS25 European Health Conference & Exhibition
HIMSS25 European Health Conference & Exhibition
Get ready for knowledge-sharing, all the latest innovations, and in-depth demos with Europe's most influential healthcare community.
10 - 12 June, 2025 | Paris
Learn More
AI in Healthcare Forum
AI in Healthcare Forum
The HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum cuts through the hype to showcase real-world examples illustrating the transformative potential, and realistic challenges of AI application across the care continuum.
10 - 11 July 2025 | New York
Learn More

Footer Menu

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Reprints
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 MobiHealthNews is a publication of HIMSS Media

X

Topics

  • Video
  • Provider
  • Payer
  • Pharma
  • Consumer
  • Investor

Career

  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Learning Center

More

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Regions

  • ANZ
  • ASIA
  • EMEA
  • Global Edition

MobiHealthNews:

The latest news in digital health delivered daily to your inbox.

Search form

Top Stories

Smart phone and smart watch
Oura and Google Fitbit partner with academia and others to battle opioid disorder
Three surgeons operating on a patient
Thyroid cancer AI assistant developed in Hong Kong
A doctor discussing findings with an older patient
Digital dementia support project gets $2M federal funding and more briefs