Real Time Location (RTLS) systems for senior living facilities are growing in popularity, as these facilities are discovering the benefits of adding location intelligence to various patient and equipment workflows.
Benefits of RTLS in Senior Care Facilities
Some of the benefits of using a medical device tracking system in a senior care facility include:
- Staff being able to find equipment more quickly.
- Less equipment is needed due to better utilization.
- Maintenance staff can quickly locate items in need of calibration or service.
- Patients at risk for wandering can be monitored passively.
Since RTLS systems have previously been expensive and cumbersome, their use has been limited to large inpatient hospital settings. Innovative RTLS systems like AirFinder are allowing this type of technology to finally be used in smaller settings or alternative care facilities like long term care.
Ideal RTLS Devices
The ideal device for tracking patients, staff, and equipment in the long term care environment depends on the outcomes the system is trying to achieve.
For instance, if the device is meant to be a wearable, capable of tracking a resident who wanders into a room or area that is abnormal, the device must be comfortable, unobtrusive, and have a long battery life.
An asset tag tracking the location of a nebulizer would look very different. Asset tags generally have as large a size as possible to accommodate long battery lives. Luckily, with active RFID (Bluetooth Low Energy-BLE) tags, even long battery lives are possible with small tags.
Systems that need a dual function, like tracking staff and nurse call buttons, need the obvious button but need to also be comfortable to wear and easy to use.
ROI
Lastly, the cost of equipment, tags, and ongoing software licenses are a critical piece of any senior care RTLS system. Since a system like this is offering only marginal improvements in the cost of care, the ROI (return on investment) for a senior living medical device tracking system needs to be clear.
AirFinder offers the lowest total system cost of any RTLS system, and if you’re interested in learning more, please download our free Whitepaper…
