Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Atlanta, GA – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, and West Physics, a premier provider of medical physics services worldwide, today announced their partnership resulting in a turn-key computed tomography (CT) radiation dose management program to help health systems comply with new dose management requirements from accrediting and regulatory bodies. Together, Philips and West Physics will help hospitals establish effective radiation safety programs that help optimize patient radiation dose to deliver excellent image quality, while easing the regulatory burden. Philips and West Physics are uniting innovative dose tracking technology and medical physics expertise with the goal of helping hospitals use patient dose data in a more meaningful way, and ultimately establishing world-class radiation safety programs in radiology departments across the United States. With Philips DoseWise Portal, a multi-vendor and multi-modality software solution that manages radiation data collection and analysis, and the luminary team of medical physicists at West Physics, hospitals and health systems will be fully equipped to establish programs for managing CT protocol optimization, optimize CT equipment through protocol management and benchmarking, apply data-driven analytics to assist with regulatory standard compliance, and set meaningful goals to track progress against both hospital-specific benchmarks and national standards. “Philips remains committed to providing high quality technology and informatics solutions for radiation dose management, and our partnership with West Physics helps further our dedication,” said Dominic Siewko, clinical marketing leader and former Radiation Safety Officer at Philips. “Our aim is to ensure hospitals and health systems of all sizes have the resources and support for proper dose optimization and justification for exam ordering, resulting in effective dose management for patients while providing excellent image quality. We are looking forward to working with the highly respected team at West Physics to make dose management programs a standard part of all hospitals and health systems across the U.S.” “In today’s shifting regulatory environment, hospitals really must look ahead to remain compliant with evolving requirements for CT dose optimization,” said Dr. Geoffrey West, President and Senior Medical Physicist of West Physics. “With guidance from our team of specialty-trained medical physics experts, who are intimately familiar with not only the relevant standards but also with effective ways to adjust scan technique on each various CT make and model to produce an optimal image quality / dose balance, technologists will learn how to best utilize Philips DoseWise Portal dose tracking software to manage dose and remain compliant. Additionally, our experts will work alongside hospitals and imaging centers to address challenges and provide advice for building their radiation safety program.” The combination of West Physics’ services and Philips’ DoseWise Portal is available in three tiers of professional support to help health systems of all sizes achieve their CT dose management goals. Hospitals will be able to optimize patient doses through protocol reviews and optimization, conduct performance evaluations against industry benchmarks, test CT scanners for accuracy against the stated dose output, establish and set up dose alert levels, and stay in compliance with local and national standards. To learn more about Philips’ innovations in dose management, watch this educational video, visit www.Philips.com/DoseWise and follow the conversation @PhilipsHealth.
West Physics Consulting, LLC, based in Atlanta, Georgia, provides quality assurance testing for advanced imaging equipment (MRI, CT, NM/PET, etc.) as well as other radiation safety consulting services to over 2,000 hospitals and imaging centers in 50 U.S. states, federal territories, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. West Physics employs a highly educated, trained and experienced team of medical physicists and health physicists to assist its clients with a wide variety of challenges in their diagnostic imaging businesses, including: independently testing highly complex imaging equipment to ensure patient safety and image quality; assisting facilities with achieving prestigious accreditation from the American College of Radiology, The Joint Commission, Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, and RadSite; helping facilities design lead shielding for x-ray installations; and providing other forms of regulatory and technical consulting. For more information, visit www.westphysics.com.
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.
Philips Global Press Office Tel: +1 412-523-9616