Philips announces new appointment

Philips has announced the appointment of a chief medical officer, in a move to strengthen the company’s care and patient focus.

Also undertaking the role of senior vice-president, Eric Silfen will report to healthcare chief executive officer Steve Rusckowski.

Since working in Philips’ Research North America’s Department of Biomedical Informatics, he led the development, design, evaluation and validation of clinical decision support systems for biomedicine.

Mr Rusckowski said: “The chief medical officer will be instrumental in helping advance our healthcare strategy, as we are uniquely focused on the needs of patients and care providers throughout the care cycle.”

Dr Silfen has previously worked with the Hospital Corporation of America and is also a member of professional societies, including the American College of Medical Quality and the New York Academy of Sciences.

He holds a master of science degree in health administration from Medical College of Virginia, US, along with a master of arts degree in biomedical informatics from Columbia University in New York.

Headquartered in Andover, US and Best in Holland, Philips employs 32,500 people around the world.

It has research and development at 22 sites, alongside sales and service operations in more than 63 countries and approximately 40 medical and technical institutions.