Philips & AWS Collaborate on Cloud-Based Digital Pathology Solutions

This collaboration aims to harness Philips' expertise in pathology digitization and AWS' leadership in scalable, secure cloud solutions to optimize clinical workflows.

Royal Philips, a leading health technology company, has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to leverage cloud technology for the advancement of digital pathology solutions. 

This collaboration aims to harness Philips' expertise in pathology digitization and AWS' leadership in scalable, secure cloud solutions to optimize clinical workflows.

The collaboration between Philips and AWS further seeks to improve workflow integration, access, and reliability in pathology labs. By leveraging cloud-based digital pathology solutions, the companies aim to enhance productivity and collaboration among healthcare professionals. 

These solutions will enable pathology labs to efficiently store, manage, and analyze digital pathology data, facilitating seamless integration with existing healthcare systems for holistic patient care.

According to Philips executives, the availability of digitally stored pathology images is crucial for enabling timely and accurate diagnoses, particularly in the case of diseases such as cancer. 

They emphasize that the digitization of pathology plays a vital role in improving patient care by enhancing workflow efficiency and collaboration at scale.

Empowering Healthcare Transformation

Sharing thoughts, Shez Partovi, chief innovation and strategy officer at Philips, said, "By harnessing the power of the cloud to accelerate the digitization of pathology, we are improving the quality of patient care by enabling greater workflow efficiency and collaboration at scale." 

Partovi underscored the role of digital pathology in opening new avenues for research, education, and the integration of AI to further enhance patient care.

Tehsin Syed, general manager, health AI, AWS, emphasized the importance of secure cloud-based offerings in addressing the growing demand for data storage and utilization in healthcare. 

Syed noted that digitizing pathology enables healthcare leaders to apply AI and ML algorithms to derive valuable insights, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.

Introduction of Healthcare-Specific Virtual Agent

In a separate development, Talkdesk, a leading provider of healthcare customer service technology, unveiled Talkdesk Autopilot for Healthcare. 

This next-generation virtual agent is specifically designed to handle patient and member interactions within contact center operations. The solution integrates with electronic health records (EHR) and other key systems to autonomously address complex patient needs throughout the entire patient journey.

Talkdesk Autopilot for Healthcare aims to enhance patient engagement and streamline contact center operations by automating common patient inquiries and tasks. 

Commenting on the benefits of AI in healthcare, Jeff Kaplan, VP, patient access, Memorial Healthcare System, said, "AI has amazing potential to help healthcare, but it’s critical to partner with vendors who understand the industry and can collaborate to build solutions to fit its unique requirements."

The solution enables frictionless interactions by seamlessly transitioning between virtual agents and human agents when necessary, thereby improving patient acquisition and loyalty. 

Kaplan further emphasized the importance of convenience and ease in patient engagement, noting that Talkdesk Autopilot for Healthcare has allowed Memorial Healthcare System to focus on addressing complex patient needs while automating routine interactions.

Continued Innovation in Healthcare Technology

Recently, Global cloud computing platform, AWS joined forces with Symplr, a leading enterprise healthcare operations software company to revolutionize healthcare workflows by integrating AI assistants.

This partnership, announced at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS24), sought to streamline complex processes and alleviate mundane tasks for healthcare professionals.

As part of this partnership, Symplr, and AWS are expected to leverage their existing AI and ML capabilities while developing new AI solutions, such as generative AI.