OREANDA-NEWS. Royal Philips N.V. (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) and the 622-bed Reinier de Graaf hospital (Delft, the Netherlands) today announced the signing of an additional 15-year partnership agreement. The agreement, which will give the entire hospital long-term continuous access to Philips' advanced diagnostic and interventional ultrasound technologies, represents a significant extension of an existing multi-year partnership entered into in September 2014. Being the most extensive and holistic agreement for ultrasound ever signed by Philips in the Netherlands, this new agreement emphasizes Philips’ global technology leadership in medical ultrasound as well as its role as an accountable business partner.

The new agreement applies to all of the hospital's departments and sites, including a new principal site that will open in August of this year. This latest generation of ultrasound systems being supplied as part of the agreement will offer simplified workflows and a powerful combination of speed and image clarity. The systems will be used, among other applications, for abdominal examinations and for examinations during pregnancy, but will also play an important role in the treatment of rheumatism and the image-guided treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease, performed using the latest live 3D imaging technologies.

This next step in the collaboration between Reinier de Graaf hospital and Philips marks a substantial expansion of the existing partnership between Philips and Reinier de Graaf. The existing partnership already gives the hospital fast and continuous access to the latest diagnostic and interventional imaging systems and clinical informatics solutions as well as innovative planning and consultancy services to help improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare provision. With current and future health care developments in mind, flexibility is one of the core elements of this partnership, enabling the optimal level of patient care and operational efficiency.

Working with a single family of ultrasound systems, all with similar interfaces and usability, hospital personnel will soon be able to work with ultrasound more easily and more efficiently. Ultrasound systems will be easily interchangeable between healthcare professionals and departments - for example, when additional capacity or functionality is needed. Training hospital personnel will also be more efficient.

“Reinier de Graaf carefully considered which ultrasound systems will be required after the move to our new hospital site,” said Jaap van den Heuvel, CEO Reinier de Graaf hospital. “We firmly believe that we now have a balanced package that will enable every department to offer the required ultrasound diagnostics. Thanks to this partnership collaboration with Philips, we will now be able to tailor our equipment in a flexible way to suit future developments.”

“Philips is changing from a supplier of medical technology to a service provider that supports hospitals across the healthcare continuum, both in terms of the quality of healthcare and in terms of performance and efficiency,” said Henk Valk, General Manager of Philips Healthcare Benelux. “We are finding that hospitals are increasingly opting for this strategic partnership model. The new agreement with the Reinier de Graaf hospital shows how, through partnerships like these and the experiences and the relationship of trust that arise from them, we are able to explore additional areas where we can deliver added value for one another.”

The new ultrasound systems will be operational with effect from May of this year. Philips is a global leader in medical ultrasound. Thanks to its cost-effectiveness and flexibility, ultrasound is one of the fastest-growing imaging modalities in the market. With its technology leadership, Philips has been able to build a broad and complete portfolio of ultrasound solutions for both diagnostics and interventional therapy.