Royal Philips has announced that it is introducing a medical-grade biosensor-enabled monitoring solution for at-risk patients in low-acuity hospital settings, such as the general ward.

The company says that, unlike fitness trackers and consumer-focused wearables, the new connected biosensor automatically and continuously measures clinically relevant vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and others. The biosensor then transmits the data it collects to a connected clinical decision support software application, where the software can be configured to notify the appropriate caregiver or clinician when preset limits are exceeded.

According to Philips, it is working to advance patient monitoring as the health industry experiences continuing growth in the areas of mobile health-enabled solutions and services. The company anticipates that patients enabled by connected health technologies will recover faster with fewer complications in hospital settings, and subsequently at home.

Philips’ creation of this patient monitoring solution reportedly stemmed from conversations with providers looking for rapid cocreation models to address specific issues, such as helping at-risk patients in low-acuity hospital areas through recovery and transition to home care. Philips plans to introduce a portfolio of integrated solutions which will connect to analytics tools and dashboards with the goal of giving clinicians actionable insights to help improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and improve access to care.

The company will exhibit its new biosensor at booth #3416 at the 2016 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, February 29 – March 4 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. Information on the company’s patient monitoring technologies is also available on the Philips website.