Real-time visibility into patient, staff and equipment locations takes safety and strategy to the next level

Searching for equipment is a consistent facility-wide challenge, and a major patient safety risk caused by distraction and delays in care delivery as staff hunts for missing items

By Shane Waslaski / Special to Healthcare Facilities Today


Location-based intelligence, leveraging Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) has existed for some time. Manufacturers employ it to provide visibility into their own supply chain, carefully tracking items as they enter and leave the facility. And now, more than ever, we use this type of technology in our personal lives, with apps that help show us where our family members are—and even how fast they are driving.

That’s why today’s hospitals — laser focused on efficiency, quality, and most importantly, safety — are employing location-based intelligence across their organizations. 

More than providing simple search-and-find functionality, an enterprise location-based intelligence system reveals additional layers of insight to elevate care coordination and drive operational efficiency. When fully mature, these enterprise deployments are leading to better staff engagement, bottom-line enhancements, and delighted patient experiences. It works on a granular level, automatically observing clinical activity and recording data that may be used for everything from identifying potential infectious contacts, to triggering and escalating alerts when staff are in duress (or in need of assistance). 

It often starts with equipment

Searching for equipment is a consistent facility-wide challenge, and a major patient safety risk caused by distraction and delays in care delivery as staff hunts for missing items. While tracking is made easier through enterprise asset management solutions, they may be greatly enhanced through additional integration with a location-based intelligence deployment, minimizing the search process and revealing an insightful real-time view into equipment location, status, time in location, proximity, and par level.

Location-based intelligence excels far beyond simply knowing where equipment is currently located, providing access to more-in-depth information to improve operations, mitigate risks, and avoid injury.  For example, the technology alerts when equipment accumulating in hallways risks violation of Joint Commission standards, or when non-sterile equipment is detected entering patient rooms.

The maintenance of temperature sensitive equipment has long been a manual and burdensome process for staff. However, this distracting and non-value-added task is easily handled by location-based intelligence in a consistent, proactive way. It provides minute-to-minute monitoring refrigerators, freezers, and warming cabinets, all of which are crucial to preserving pharmaceuticals, blood, and other biological specimens.

Focus on safety

More than a system to manage the facility’s assets, location-based intelligence is impactful in supporting the mission of patient and staff safety. In an environment leveraging location-based intelligence, patients may also be assigned badges that show the patient’s current status in a care delivery process or can be configured to alert when outside designated patient care areas or care delivery parameters. When staff and caregivers are equipped with badges, these systems also provide peace of mind by allowing staff to activate an emergency alert, such as when they are threatened with violence or need assistance.

In the event a patient tests positive for a contagious disease, staff can leverage the data from a location-based intelligence software solution to provide reporting and tracing into the locations, patients, staff, and equipment with which the infected patient came into contact. Care providers can then use this information to take appropriate actions to isolate, decontaminate, and quarantine anyone potentially exposed to that contagion or infection.

Optimizing patient care

In addition to the safety afforded to staff and patients, one of the most expansive benefits of location-based Intelligence is optimizing care. In today’s hectic, often complex, hospital environment, location-based intelligence adoption facilitates a culture of learning, improving, and unprecedented insights into the orchestration of care.

It does so by offering a unified lens into medical equipment, patients, and staff across the facility to ensure they are all in the right place at the right time. Even better, the capture of real-time, location-based intelligence is achieved without further burdening staff or disrupting existing systems. This is increasingly important as hospitals work to differentiate themselves in the face of increasing competition from both traditional and nontraditional players, outcomes-based reimbursements, and staffing shortages. 

Location-based intelligence supports safety across the care continuum by providing awareness of:

• Patients and staff needing assistance

• Patient infections and contact tracing

• Delays and bottlenecks in patient care delivery

• Medical equipment preventative maintenance and recall management

Shane Waslaski is the Vice President and General Manager of Location-Based Intelligence for Infor.



April 24, 2020


Topic Area: Information Technology


Recent Posts

On the Lookout: The Software Supply Chain as a Healthcare Cyberattack Vector

Staying watchful of third-party software vendors and their activities is critical for healthcare cybersecurity.


Hackensack Meridian Health & Wellness Center at Clifton Opens

The Clifton center expands health care access in Passaic County by reducing barriers such as travel and wait times.


Suffolk Breaks Ground on Expansion of White Plains Hospital

The 10-story, approximately 500,000-square-foot expansion is slated to open in 2028.


EVS Leadership Culture Critical in Preventing Hospital-Acquired Sepsis

Cleaning is an essential yet complex component for the prevention of HAI-induced sepsis.


Man Dies by Suicide in Emergency Department Waiting Room at Kansas Hospital

No staff or patients were harmed, and the man was alone in the waiting area when he shot himself.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

 
 
 
 

Healthcare Facilities Today membership includes free email newsletters from our facility-industry brands.

Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   Posts

Copyright © 2023 TradePress. All rights reserved.