Philips Respironics spreads out

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. - Philips Respironics recently received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for a new tool that it believes better positions healthcare providers to improve outcomes for patients with chronic sleep and respiratory conditions.

Care Orchestrator, a cloud-based software application, enables data, clinical management workflow, informatics and intelligence capabilities for providers, payers and patients, all within a single platform. 

“Caring for these patients continues to be a team sport, with multiple organizations, including HMEs, collaborating,” said Bob Barker, director of product management for informatics and applications. “There's a need, as the focus shifts to a model where they're paying expecting outcomes, that there will be engagement at a much deeper level.”

Care Orchestrator builds on Encore Anywhere, a web-based system used by more than 3,500 HME providers to manage patient compliance and therapy for more than 7 million patients. It also builds on Dream Mapper, an app and web-based software that helps patients stay motivated with their therapies. 

But Care Orchestrator takes the whole idea of patient management to another level, Barker says—its clinical management workflows appeal to an expanded group of healthcare providers (especially for chronic respiratory conditions) and its framework is built to interact with a growing number of devices (not just CPAP and vents, but also oxygen concentrators, body monitors, etc.).

“CO also has a robust framework for building out patient engagement tools,” he said. “These tools help providers help patients self-serve, allowing providers to focus their resources on those who need it most.”

The goal now, Barker says: getting healthcare professionals to use Care Orchestrator. Philips Respironics plans to educate existing users of Encore Anywhere about the expanded capabilities of the software, and to seek integration with the systems used by large health systems and pulmonary practices.

“They're discharging patients who need to be on a vent, and they're not going to rush to get another system that they have to log into,” he said. “There needs to be integration with the EMR system that they use day in and day out.”

To its advantage, Philips already has “a huge amount of reach,” Barker says.

“We're going to have a big role in the patient management space,” he said. “Care Orchestrator positions us for that.”