Remember Marc Benioff’s connected toothbrush? There’s more where that came from. Salesforce and Philips have announced a strategic partnership to deliver a more collaborative health system.
In a media roundtable this morning, the companies revealed two clinical applications which have already been created and will be available on the platform this summer. Philips eCareCoordinator and Philips eCareCompanion will sit alongside Philips’ Hospital to Home telehealth operation, improving what the healthcare provider calls a “crisis” today, with over 171 million people expected to be living with chronic conditions in the US by 2030.
The solution, evidently, is greater transparency and communication between patients and healthcare providers, with the two companies plotting a future whereby apps will be central to healthcare, from self-care and prevention to diagnosis and treatment.
We have entered a new transformative era for healthcare
“We have entered a new transformative era for healthcare, and technology is enabling the industry to connect to, care for and engage with patients and each other in a profound new way,” said Salesforce CEO Benioff.
Salesforce added that through the open Salesforce1 platform, developers and ISVs will be able to collaborate and build their own healthcare solutions, citing Apple’s HealthKit as a similar player.
It’s evidently been a busy couple of months at Salesforce towers, with the launch of a UK data centre and the renaming of the Heron Tower as the Salesforce Tower, with the current emphasis based upon the ‘Internet of Customers’ and the launch of the Salesforce1 app.
This latest play evidently puts that on the map, envisioning a truly connected world. When the Salesforce1 World Tour arrived in London last month, the keynote speeches reinforced the cloud, social, mobile world the company portrays. As cloud-first was described as “the new mantra in today’s world” by COO George Hu, this is another step in that direction.
Salesforce’s partnership with Philips comes amidst a series of other alliances, most notably with Microsoft and HP.
Photo credit: Royal Philips
