LONDON and AMSTERDAM (September 7, 2016)—Royal Philips announced preliminary results of an independent, multicenter Home Oxygen Therapy-Home Mechanical Ventilation (HOT-HMV) study carried out by respiratory experts at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Philips’s work in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) started several decades ago when it began providing health care professionals and patients with innovative treatment solutions and services. Philips’s participation in the HOT-HMV study builds on the company’s global leadership in COPD management.

COPD is on the rise worldwide, estimated to become the third leading cause of death in the next fifteen years, more than breast cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer combined. Moreover, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that caring for patients with these chronic conditions, including COPD, accounts for 70 percent of the annual health care spending in the United States alone.

The Philips-sponsored study researched the benefits of home non-invasive ventilation (NIV), referred to as HMV in the study, for patients with COPD. Initial results from this study, which will be presented today at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress, reveal that patients using HOT with HMV are half as likely to be readmitted to the hospital. The HOT-HMV study used a randomized controlled trial that compared the use of HMV and HOT therapies with HOT alone in 116 patients with persistent hypercapnia. Investigators included Dr. Nicholas Hart, Dr. Patrick Murphy and colleagues.

“Our goal with this study was to find a way to provide COPD patients with oxygen therapy, as well as home ventilators, in an effort to lower the number of patients being readmitted to hospitals,” said Dr. Nicholas Hart, professor and clinical and academic director of Lane Fox Respiratory Unit, St Thomas' Hospital. “The results of the HOT-HMV study have the ability to change the way that COPD patients are treated worldwide. We’re looking forward to continuing the trial over the next five years to monitor survival rates, which we hope will rise, and readmission rates, which will hopefully fall.”

“Philips is proud to be a lead sponsor of this study,” said Eli Diacopoulos, business leader, Home Respiratory Care, Philips. “Managing COPD is more than simply providing patients with respiratory devices, which is why Philips continues to innovate and advance NIV therapies in the hospital and home. It’s about providing support across the entire continuum of care, and Philips is uniquely positioned to make this a reality.”

In 2015, Philips funded and co-authored a retrospective study that evaluated COPD patients who were hospitalized two or more times within a year and transitioned to a COPD management program. The results of the study showed that the readmission rate on patients using NIV therapy in combination with a multifaceted program of clinical support services was reduced by 88 percent during the subsequent 12 months.

Philips actively strives to help COPD patients in the home by connecting the company’s broad respiratory care portfolio—drug delivery, oxygen therapy, telehealth and home ventilation. The company continues to innovate and advance NIV therapies in the hospital and home with its advanced therapy algorithms for COPD and other chronic respiratory disorders.

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