Curing Operational Inefficiency — How Real-Time Locating Technology Brings A Cure To Asset Management Headaches

By Intelligent InSites, Inc.

Hospital employees spend 23% to 32% of their time searching for equipment — that's more than two hours per shift per nurse! Although they may not see this as wasted time, this translates to less time spent with patients. The importance of finding equipment or inventory increases greatly when it's needed to provide time-critical care.

The symptoms of untraceable equipment can be easily solved by utilizing an RTLS system, which includes tags attached to the asset. By using a signal transmitted via infrared, RF, or ultrasound waves, the tagged items can be located immediately anywhere within the facility. In addition, staff can easily identify the current status of assets such as 'in-use' or 'available', which facilitates instant locating of the nearest available item. This in turn increases staff productivity and satisfaction as their time can be devoted to activities more appropriate to their skills, expertise, and passion.