RTLS Solution: North Carolina Hospital Uses Real-Time Location System (RTLS) To Improve Processes, Enhance Efficiency, And Save Money
RadarFind Corporation announced how one North Carolina hospital is using its Real-Time Location System (RTLS) to improve processes, enhance efficiency and save money.
In 2006, Wayne Memorial became the first hospital in the nation to fully implement the RadarFind Real-Time Location System. The RadarFind system uses automatic indoor location technology to help staff locate essential equipment such as IV pumps, wheelchairs, beds, pulse oximeters and mobile computer systems.
Several of the features that set RadarFind apart from other RTLS vendors are the very ones yielding significant benefits for Wayne Memorial.
Utilization:
RadarFind is the industry's only RTLS system using a tag that tells not only where a piece of equipment is located, but also its status (available, in use, needs cleaning). Use of this tag on crucial patient care equipment allows hospital administrators to capture valuable data about equipment usage trends, which then allows them to more effectively budget their capital expenditures.
At Wayne Memorial, usage data provided by the RadarFind system saved the hospital over $200,000 in new equipment expenditures.
Process Improvement:
RadarFind's ability to provide room-level equipment location in real time – and also to provide the status when relevant – allows patient-care staff to spend time providing care, not searching for equipment.
At Wayne Memorial, this means the time necessary to locate a wheelchair has gone from an average of 20 minutes to under five minutes.
Managing and accounting for inventory of equipment was a process that used to take hours of staff time each month. RadarFind now completes the process in just minutes.
Non-disruptive installation:
Unlike most other systems, RadarFind can be completely installed with no disruption to the regular flow of patient care. In fact the system is installed with the patient in the room. RadarFind requires little or no new wiring. Wayne Memorial reported that installation went so smoothly, many staff were unaware that the system had been installed.
And unlike systems that use a hospital's WiFi network, there is no need for tedious, ongoing system calibration with RadarFind.
User-friendly interface:
RadarFind's touch-screen interface means that even employees with very little computer knowledge can use the system. Color coding and simple map views make the system usable for all patient care employees, while sophisticated reporting functions assist administrators with planning and budgeting.
Wayne Memorial's experience demonstrates the value the RadarFind system can offer to hospitals and health care systems.