How Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) Can Streamline Hospital Workflows and Enhance Patient Care
Efficiency and patient safety are paramount in a hospital’s fast-paced environment. Recent technological advancements are providing a wider range of solutions for healthcare organizations. For instance, a real-time locating system (RTLS) has emerged as a powerful tool for streamlining hospital workflows, enhancing staff productivity, and improving the quality of patient care.
Enhanced staff workflows
The frantic pace of a hospital often leaves staff scrambling to find equipment, colleagues, and patient information. When time is of the essence, an RTLS can optimize workflows and increase productivity in several ways:
Locating equipment fast: Gone are the days of wasted time searching for misplaced infusion pumps or missing wheelchairs. RTLS tags attached to equipment offer instant location data, enabling staff to find them quickly.
Allowing seamless handoffs and improved communication: Imagine a nurse finishing their shift and needing to brief the incoming nurse on a specific patient. With an RTLS, they can easily contact the on-call doctor — whose badge is also RTLS enabled — and facilitate a smooth handover with real-time patient information.
Automating for efficiency: An RTLS goes beyond simple locating and can automate tasks to boost efficiency. For example, an RTLS can provide real-time alerts to let clinicians know if a refrigerator, freezer, or room deviates from the desired conditions to protect important medical supplies.
Improved rounding and patient safety
An RTLS can also enhance patient safety through improved rounding practices. Traditionally, nurses have relied on memory or manual logs to track rounding schedules, potentially leading to missed or delayed checks. An RTLS presents a more reliable solution.
The system can detect when a nurse enters a patient’s room and how long they spend with the patient through a special badge worn under the nurse’s ID badge. An RTLS can even remind caregivers when rounding is overdue in a room and provide reports for managers.
Some of the other ways an RTLS can contribute to better patient safety include:
Infant security: RTLS tags on infant bracelets can activate alarms if they’re moved from designated areas, preventing abductions and ensuring their well-being.
Patient flow management: Monitoring the movements of patients throughout their hospital stay allows for improved flow management. This RTLS capability reduces wait times in departments like radiology or surgery, minimizing potential complications that can arise from delays.
Fall prevention: An RTLS can be a valuable tool for patients at high risk of falls. Clinicians can be notified if these patients enter areas with increased risks, enabling preventative intervention.
Visibility for hospital leadership and caregiver support
An RTLS isn’t just about pinpointing staff, patients, and equipment. It can also offer useful data on workflow patterns within the healthcare facility. This data can help hospital leadership optimize operations and support caregivers by:
Identifying workflow inefficiencies: RTLS data can reveal bottlenecks in workflows, such as areas where staff consistently spend time searching for resources. After discovering these inefficiencies, hospital leadership can take targeted actions to improve processes and resource allocation.
Making data-driven decisions: RTLS data can also unveil staffing needs across different departments and time periods. This information allows leadership to make data-driven decisions about staffing levels and prevent gaps in crucial areas.
Streamlining communication and teamwork: An RTLS facilitates better communication and coordination among caregivers. For instance, the system can identify the closest nurse to a patient experiencing distress, ensuring a quicker response and enhanced teamwork.
The financial impacts
RTLS implementation can yield significant financial benefits, from saving millions in asset management costs to improving quality controls in critical environments. One key area of impact is in the streamlining of workflows. An RTLS enables hospital staff to locate equipment and supplies instantly, decreasing time wasted searching while increasing overall efficiency. This improved workflow translates directly into cost savings by maximizing resource utilization and minimizing downtime.
Utilizing RTLS also allows healthcare organizations to manage their equipment more effectively, reducing the need to rent or purchase new items. Hospitals can track equipment in real time to identify underutilized assets, redistribute them as needed, and avoid unnecessary expenses.
These improvements ultimately lead to a better bottom line for the hospital and a more positive experience for patients and clinicians. As healthcare evolves, RTLS should continue to serve as an ideal solution for creating a more efficient and patient-centered environment.
To learn more about how RTLS and other advanced systems can make your hospital safer and more efficient, visit trlsystems.com/solutions-healthcare.