The Roundtable: Real-time Locating Systems

Q: What are the latest advances or significant changes in Real-Time Locating Systems in the past year?

 

Amir: Over the last year, the use of hybrid technologies to support advanced RTLS use cases including automating mobile medical equipment maintenance and management. The Department of Veterans Affairs standardization on a hybrid, clinical-grade RTLS is helping to drive adoption in healthcare. RTLS systems continue to improve in accuracy, speed and battery life providing greater value to customers, and are becoming essential for hospital operation and efficiency. New applications ranging from environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, CO2, differential pressure, etc.) to hand hygiene compliance monitoring are now supported by a single RTLS infrastructure. RTLS systems are not just being used for locating medical equipment, but also support a variety of other applications.

 

Perry and Poshywak: Adoption – More and more organizations are seeing the value of RTLS toward safety, efficiency and communication. The market continues to grow as the positive impacts are felt in more areas than asset management.

 

Expansion – RTLS is much more than tracking assets. In the healthcare arena, it is an enabling technology that can impact patient safety and employee productivity. The problems that RTLS can solve are expanding.

 

Innovation – Speed, size, method. There are rapid innovations in both hardware and software systems that provide end-users with more options than ever.

 

Integration and interfacing – Clients are looking for inbound and outbound connectivity between multiple applications from their RTLS infrastructure and software. The ability to leverage multiple hardware technologies simultaneously helps the value of RTLS be realized in a compounding way throughout an organization.

 

Broussard: As a relative newcomer to the usage of RTLS in our hospital, I think we are just beginning to tap into the potential that it has to offer. Our initial roll out included equipment and personnel, but now we are gathering interests in process automation throughout our facility. I think that will be the future.

 

 

 

Q: How will those changes impact the RTLS market in the future?

 

Amir: Advances in RTLS infrastructure enabling greater accuracy, speed and reliability as well as end-user applications supporting workflow automation and enhanced patient care will accelerate continued adoption of RTLS.

 

Perry and Poshywak: Convergence will help build the momentum. The perspective of RTLS will be well beyond simple equipment tracking and maintenance as people are brought into the mix, but include safety measures,

 

Decision making – there will be many more options to choose from, making a decision much more difficult without good initial consultation and a clear definition of desired goals.

 

Broussard: Automation of processes through the use of RTLS will be a huge labor saving event in healthcare. The automatic documentation of temp logs, team activity, etc. is critical to our industry for compliance.

 

Q: What RTLS technologies are worthy of the initial investment? How can a facility with a limited budget meet the RTLS needs of today?

 

Amir: Making the right RTLS investment will pay for itself in most cases in a matter of months. Often, having the ability to leverage the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure can be a benefit. The combination of Wi-Fi locating with Gen2IR and Low Frequency RF provides the framework required for advanced asset management use cases such as PAR-level management, improved asset utilization and reduction of shrinkage. For more demanding applications requiring accurate and high-speed locating (clinical-grade), dedicated networks with Gen2IR will provide the needed solution.

 

Perry and Poshywak: There are a variety of technologies that provide the right level of speed and accuracy. But, before you invest or investigate technology, understand what it is that you want to accomplish with RTLS. And don’t do this activity in a vacuum; RTLS is a solution that can extend beyond “dots on a map” locating. Involve all the major stakeholders in your organization to see how everyone can benefit.

 

A technology choice that is scalable where simple workflows and use cases can be initially supported, but grow over time to provide more distinct granularity. This means you can start with a deployment that is less granular or accurate for the initial problems you need to solve. For example, simple asset locating can be done with lower levels of granularity as a start; but then granularity can be added to achieve room or sub-room levels of accuracy for more sophisticated capabilities.

Consider technologies that are non-disruptive from an installation, maintenance and frequency perspective. Every organization is unique and finding the right mix of technologies to meet the needs is possible with the right amount of research. Look to consult with organizations that have a vested interest helping you reach your goals; not simply selling you hardware.

 

Broussard: I think roll in with a core suite of products, and then develop a strategy to build on the hardware architecture. Once the teams see the benefits, they will all want to integrate into their areas.