Philips Healthcare Care Cycle

Increasing value throughout the cycle of care

When Kate went for her routine mammogram, she expected that everything would be fine—just like always.

She was surprised when her radiologist said she thought that one of the images looked suspicious, and asked her to come back for an ultrasound. That was followed by a biopsy that confirmed that Kate had breast cancer.

Her oncologist spent a lot of time with her, talking about what the diagnosis meant.

Together they decided on a treatment plan that included radiation. Her doctor explained that use of a new PET/CT scanning device would allow her clinician to take images of her breast in the same position that she was treated. This would provide additional diagnostic information, which would in turn help drive her ongoing therapy.

Insightful care management The good news is that Kate’s cancer has now been successfully managed. To ensure that the she remains cancer free, she has to return periodically for MRIs. Kate’s story . . . from prevention to screening to diagnosis, from treatment to management to surveillance . . . illustrates how gaining a deeper understanding of diseases in all of their stages, can lead to real opportunities to respond with meaningful solutions for both patients and providers—at every stage of an illness. This is the heart of our care cycle approach at Philips. Value at each point of care When we at Philips come to work in the morning, our goal matches that of everyone
involved in healthcare—to give people the best care possible. We use the care cycle and other tools to understand the challenges that both patients and providers face. And through that understanding, we work to improve the quality of people’s lives and to continue to raise the bar on clinical excellence, while offering genuine value. We work hard to reach these goals, not just in diagnostic situations, not just in critical care settings, but throughout the entire continuum of care.
This commitment to insight-driven innovation can result in everything from introducing powerful new diagnostic equipment to creating more comfortable and patient-friendly treatment environments to developing systems that allow providers to view all patient X-ray or CT information at the push of a single button. At the end of the day, it comes down to helping people like Kate by providing her and the people who care for her with answers to real problems.