An interconnected pair of medtech mainstays are bringing their partnership to the next level with a new upgrade to a popular wearable. The augmented collaboration between Philips and Masimo entails the latter’s health-tracking W1 watch being hooked up to the former’s formidable patient monitoring ecosystem so clinicians can keep tabs on patients after discharge.
"Expanding our partnership with Philips in this way is a win-win for patients and clinicians everywhere, and is an important part of our multi-year plan to bring the best of hospital monitoring to the home while continuing to improve access to quality hospital care," said Bilal Muhsin, Chief Operating Officer of Masimo.
Before their fruitful, long-standing partnership was struck up in 2016, Philips and Masimo were in fact stuck in a quagmire of patent and antitrust suits. The initial collaboration saw Philips fork over a $300 million cash payment and throw its weight into a number of marketing and product integrations.
The W1 watch first hit the consumer market in August, with Masimo boasting of advanced tracking for oxygen saturation, pulse rate, respiration rate, and even hydration level in a limited-release iteration. While still sitting the FDA’s clearance queue, the device has already received a CE mark in Europe.
