Mass General Brigham, Philips Working to Unify EHR, Device Data Streams

Boston-based Mass General Brigham (MGB) is working with Royal Philips to unify active data streaming from medical devices at the bedside, such as ventilators and monitors, with other longitudinal clinical data, such as lab results and EHR data.

By streaming detailed data from medical devices and other sources, Philips and MGB say they aim to create a scalable, unified, near real-time data and insights ecosystem. The goal is to enable clinicians to capture, analyze, and react to data as it is available, potentially improving the effectiveness and efficiency of patient care. 

"This exciting collaboration marks a key step forward in healthcare innovation, harnessing the full potential of AI and medical device data to advance patient safety, operational efficiency, clinician ergonomics, while opening new discovery possibilities,” said Tom McCoy, M.D., medical director of biomedical engineering at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a statement. “By mobilizing previously siloed medical device data into an integrated high-speed, high-resiliency, real-time data fabric, we will be able to deliver the transformative potential of software to the patients who need it most." 

The collaboration will seek to unify data streaming from ventilators and monitors, with clinical data, such as lab results to create a comprehensive and actionable data environment. Philips Capsule Medical Device Information Platform brings together data from different devices, allowing Philips Clinical Insights Manager to facilitate retrospective analysis and testing, and Philips Capsule Surveillance to leverage continuous algorithmic processing to deliver smart alerts into live clinical practice.



For the collaboration, Mass General Brigham is bringing together the expertise of its biomedical engineering team, clinical sub-specialists, digital teams and internal AI business unit (Mass General Brigham AI) with Philips’ research and business teams. The joint effort will seek to deliver data insights, enhance data integration and foster the development of new algorithms, capable of identifying patient-cohort patterns and generating smart alerts for clinical intervention. These alerts will provide clinicians with actionable insights at critical moments to support better patient care.

An initial research program as part of the collaboration focuses on patients undergoing continuous, real-time heart monitoring. By analyzing this data, the research aims to improve early detection of cardiac events and other critical health issues, potentially saving lives and expediting treatment.

“This collaboration between Philips and Mass General Brigham represents a significant step forward in the integration of advanced data analytics into clinical practice,” said Betsabeh Madani Hermann, global head of research at Philips, in a statement. “By developing predictive data analytics and AI algorithms, key tools for enhancing patient care, we’re empowering clinicians and supporting better care for more people.”