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To stay relevant in 2018, it's crucial for field service brands to not only focus on the most proximate markets to themselves but to also think globally and find ways to access markets all over the world. This is exactly what Philips Healthcare is achieving with its new international partnerships.

Germany

First, Philips Healthcare and two German hospital groups have signed long-term partnership agreements.

The Kliniken der Stadt Koln (Clinics of Cologne) has joined Philips on a 15-year deal which will see the company provide advanced medical imaging solutions designed to support existing precision diagnosis and therapy procedures. Provisioning aside, Philips Healthcare's field service arm will also be committed to the ongoing maintenance of these devices, as well as upgrades and replacements.

"Philips will be responsible for the procurement of new and replacement medical imaging solutions, together with their maintenance and service," said Philips Healthcare in a press release. "The agreement covers all three of the clinic's locations: Holweide, Merheim and the Children's Hospital Amsterdamer Strasse. Philips will also provide strategic and operational consultancy services to identify cost savings and improve the quality and efficiency of care."

The agreement, valued at EUR90 million, will also extend to improvements and maintenance of the group's radiology equipment and workflows, which will help boost all aspects of this sector of care, from clinical outcomes to staff satisfaction.

The second group in Germany to strike a deal with Philips Healthcare is one of the largest municipal groups in the country - the Stadtische Klinikum Munchen (Munich Municipal Hospital). The eight-year agreement, valued at EUR50 million, will also provide the group with state-of-the-art imaging systems and clinical informatics. More than 200 systems through the group's many locations will be renewed and upgraded, with Philips handling the ongoing maintenance and upgrade schedules.

The deal will allow Philips to support the hospitals during their digital transformation and provide ongoing service and consultancy throughout the process, leading to optimized planning, technology utilization, clinical processes, treatment outcomes, and patient and staff experiences.

"The goal of the partnership with Philips is to jointly increase the quality and efficiency of care with a focus on enhancing the patient and staff experiences," said Chairman of the Board of Management at the Stadtische Klinikum Munchen, Dr. Axel Fischer. "By combining innovative technology concepts that address the evolving needs of our patient population with continuous improvement of our processes, we aim to ensure cost-effective care for patients in the Munich region over the long-term."

The new innovations will be introduced on a needs-based concept within a time-phased strategy. This will allow the technology to be gradually integrated with existing procedures with the minimum amount of disruption to the hospitals' normal running.

Australia

The next country on Philips Healthcare's radar is far from its European base of operations - Australia - and again takes the form of long-term strategic agreements with two large hospital groups.

The two 20-year agreements are with the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District. Like the German deals, the agreements will see Philips Healthcare responsible for the delivery, upgrade, optimization, replacement and maintenance services for all major medical imaging solutions in the two districts. The arrangement will involve the management of the districts' entire inventory across several clinical areas including radiology, cardiology, and nuclear medicine.

"These long-term strategic agreements will allow us to innately support our partners' objectives of providing outstanding, innovative and future-proofed healthcare to their communities, by making them better informed, more efficient and more sustainable," said CEO of Philips ASEAN Pacific, Caroline Clarke. "This first-of-its-kind service delivery model for Philips in Australia highlights how we are transitioning to becoming an integrated solutions and services provider that teams up in a shared framework to accelerate change in a new era of value-driven care."

Philips will also be supporting the two districts with its proprietary data management service. Through intelligent analysis and real-time feedback, Philips will be able to act on shifting field service needs rather than simply reacting to problems as they occur.

Final Thoughts

The partnerships in Germany and Australia demonstrate how field service can be a proactive force in industries such as healthcare and can lead the way in providing and maintaining the next generation technology that makes modern medicine such a force for good in the world.

International markets and smart partnerships are set to be hot topics at Field Service Palm Springs 2019, taking place in April at the JW Marriott Desert Springs.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.