by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | November 21, 2014
From the November 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
However, Anne Bugge, president and CEO for the Americas for Sonitor, says ultrasound is the most accurate technology to use for positioning, but their product also uses Wi-Fi for course positioning, or the approximate area, as well as low-frequency radio. “No technology unto itself can cover everything,” Bugge says. While some RTLS equipment manufacturers use Wi-Fi networks, others, such as Awarepoint, use a different wireless network called ZigBee, a low-power wireless technology that can be used to send data over short distances. Some software providers, such as Intelligent InSites, have an open platform, and can take data from anywhere. “We work with every RTLS and RFID hardware solution out there,” Ruark says. “We’re agnostic or neutral to which underlying technology is in use.”
‘Shrinking’ budget and intangible benefits
One of the most easily measured returns on investment for RTLS is the cost savings associated with keeping track of equipment. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently studied two hospitals that are part of the Texas Health Resources health system and used CenTrak’s RTLS systems to monitor the location of major equipment. The agency found that one hospital saved nearly $1 million on equipment costs in the first year, including $285,000 on rental equipment, $100,000 on budgeting for “shrinkage,” or purchasing more equipment than necessary when items go missing, and more than $600,000 in procurement-related expenses. The other, newer hospital, didn’t budget any money at all for shrinkage.
At Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, La., which installed CenTrak technology three years ago, the hospital had a subcontractor conduct a “value added” analysis, looking at time saved in locating equipment, right sizing inventory, and theft prevention. This year, data indicatedthat through a time and salary analysis, the hospital had a “soft savings” of $180,000 on searches alone.
“Staff time saved by the ease with which we look for items in the hospital converts to money saved, and sometime lives saved,” says Terry Broussard, the hospital’s vice president of support services. There are also advantages that it’s difficult to connect to a dollar value. Broussard says an alert goes off if a large item, such as a bed, is left in the hallway for 30 minutes. This alert helps to keep the hallways free of clutter that may block emergency access or egress and has led to better inspection ratings.
With Medicare reimbursement being tied to patient satisfaction scores, better known as HCAHPS scores, there are ways that RTLS can play a part in improving patient satisfaction and quality of care. If doctors and nurses are spending too much time tracking down equipment or documenting clinical milestones, they’re not spending as much time as possible directly caring for their patients – possibly leading to lower satisfaction scores, Peck says.
