Philips has also pushed internal innovation, pouring 8 percent of yearly revenue into research in forward-looking areas such as informatics, pathology, infertility and pregnancy, and connected wearables.

A recent market study by the company, reported by HCB News, serves to underscore the compelling business reason for such moves in the health care arena.

Its Future Health Index assessed global readiness for the technologically-driven health care revolution. It looked specifically at 13 markets to assess how ready they perceived themselves to be to establish an integrated and connected care system, with results based on a survey of 25,355 patients and 2,659 health care professionals across those markets.

The study found greater openness to these new systems in emerging markets. "What you typically see in emerging markets is that people have basically nothing, and that is a big disadvantage," van Houten told HCB News. "But that also means they have no legacy, and legacy is often in the way of adopting new technologies."

In the developed world, for example, the study found that patients were more eager than doctors to embrace new technology. "The resistance to adopting is a reflection of the more siloed approach in which care is being delivered and being reinforced by a reimbursement system that maintains the status quo of how care has always been delivered," said van Houten.

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