The CEO of Philips, Frans van Houten, has offered a glimpse into how innovation and technology are driving change in the health care sector.
"I foresee a future where people and their doctors have new relationships, enabled by the cloud, by algorithms, by artificial intelligence," Van Houten told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday. "For that it's very important that connectivity is easy," he added.
In March, Philips and Samsung announced plans for a strategic partnership which would connect Samsung's ARTIK Smart IoT Platform to Philips' HealthSuite Digital Platform.
In a statement at the time, Samsung said that the collaboration would allow Samsung's ecosystem of connected devices to "safely access and share information with Philips' cloud platform."
"Phillips health products in the cloud need to connect to Samsung phones, to Apple phones, to Android phones," Van Houten said Monday. "And this partnership with Samsung is basically enabling that connectivity to enable people to enjoy a good life where the data can support doctors."
There are a number of ways that technology is helping to change the health care sector. They range from connected toothbrushes that can tell you how well you are cleaning your teeth via an app, to smart inhalers that monitor a patient's inhaler use.
Van Houten was speaking as Philips released its earnings for the first quarter of 2018. Sales hit 3.9 billion euros ($4.77 billion), with comparable sales growth of 5 percent, while the company's comparable order intake grew 10 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017.
