RTLS stands for Real Time Location Systems and refers to any system that tracks and determines an item or person’s location. RTLS is not a specific type of technology, but a goal that can be accomplished through a variety of technologies and systems for locating and managing assets.
RTLS lets you see and track in real time where assets and people are physically located, and track where they have been. Having the ability to track people and assets in real time supports digital transformation and has the potential to drive enormous productivity and efficiency gains for health and care and crucially improve patient care.
Some examples of potential applications of RTLS in healthcare are:
people tracking, knowing exactly where the nearest porter and wheelchair are to a patient, or where the patient and crash team are in real time
in contagion outbreaks, RTLS could let you see who was in an area when the outbreak occurred and where they are now in your building, helping manage the potential spread of infection
knowing where key medical devices are in real time can be a significant efficiency tool when providing patient care
bed management and occupancy tracking, seeing in real time if beds are free and where they are, improving data accuracy, allowing for central coordination via an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and reducing ward staff workload
stock control and asset management, tracking when items are taken out or introduced to the stock control system could be automatically updated in real time without the need for manual input, allowing for the servicing and maintenance of equipment to meet compliance requirements