Optimising healthcare efficiency and transparency through real-time location insights

Healthcare facilities are bustling environments where the management of assets, from basic supplies to high-tech equipment like IV pumps, is a constant challenge. The dynamic nature of healthcare means that these items are continuously on the move, following the patient’s journey across various floors and wings. This mobility often leads to inefficiencies, such as time lost in locating the right equipment, over-purchasing due to inaccurate inventory counts, and challenges in maintenance and regulatory compliance.

Real-time location tracking, powered by Internet of Things (IoT) technology, can help solve these problems to benefit everyone. For example, patients experience reduced wait times and receive higher quality care, a direct result of more efficient and responsive healthcare services, while healthcare staff benefit from streamlined workflows, which reduces the time spent on non-clinical tasks and encourages more focused patient care.

Location tracking improves staff workflows and patient care efficiency by offering key benefits such as:

• Optimising staff deployment: real-time data about staff location and availability removes cumbersome scheduling and provides effective resource allocation.
• Streamlining patient flow: monitoring patient and staff movement helps identify bottlenecks and delays, leading to timely interventions for workflow improvements.
• Enhancing communication: with real-time visibility of staff and patient locations, coordination becomes more efficient, reducing delays in patient transfers and other critical tasks.
• Improving space utilisation: analysing movement patterns helps healthcare providers optimise the use of hospital spaces and resources.

As a use case example, this technology helps manage high-tech equipment like IV pumps. Required by numerous patients, IV pumps must be readily available and maintained to exacting standards. Here’s a closer look at how IoT-powered real-time locations can manage IV pumps:

• Enhanced security: elevate security measures and audit trails, providing more precise insights into user interactions with mobile devices accessing sensitive patient information.
• Locating equipment: finding a clean and available IV pump is a common issue that affects workflow and efficiency as well as patient care and experience. IoT-enabled tags attached to IV pumps let staff instantly locate any pump within the facility, drastically reducing the time spent searching while enhancing patient care.
• Preventing over-purchasing: the habitual over-purchasing of assets like IV pumps is driven by inaccuracies in manual inventories, which can lead to unnecessary spending. Automated, accurate tracking negates the need for manual inventory counts, reducing the risk of over-purchasing and ensuring financial resources are used effectively.
• Streamlining maintenance and compliance: keeping track of the cleaning and maintenance schedules of numerous IV pumps manually often result in missed maintenance and non-compliance with healthcare regulations. Digital tagging of IV pumps facilitates easy tracking of cleaning schedules and maintenance history, ensuring compliance and efficient asset management.

The advantages of real-time tracking for hospital management include better allocation of resources, improved operational efficiency, and potential cost savings. These holistic improvements enhance daily healthcare operations and contribute significantly to the overall satisfaction of patients and the effectiveness of the healthcare team.

Beyond the immediate practical advantages, the evolution of real-time location tracking in healthcare promises further innovations. As technology advances, it can support complex data analysis, helping facilities forecast equipment usage, fine-tune inventory, and proactively plan maintenance. This predictive approach could streamline resource use and further cut costs. Additionally, integrating this technology with systems like electronic medical record (EMR) could offer comprehensive insights into patient care and resource management, further enhancing overall efficiency and effectiveness.

To learn how we can help you save time, reduce costs, and simplify your healthcare operations, reach out to us today.