PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA— Keeping track of medical devices, supplies, and other objects in the healthcare setting can be challenging. Asset tracking, a new and evolving technology, gives facilities the ability to detect, identify, and locate assets (e.g., infusion pumps, wheelchairs) at any time, as well as record the physical locations of those assets over time. ECRI (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit health services research agency, recently published an overview of asset tracking for facilities that choose to start the selection process for this technology now.

One benefit of such a system might include the ability to turn excess inventory into a revenue stream. With tracking technology, hospital administrators will know exactly what they have and can liquidate used or stored equipment and idle inventory, for instance, by auctioning it on DOTmed.

ECRI’s guidance article found that while implementing an asset tracking system now would bring immediate benefits for some healthcare facilities, others are better off waiting for the marketplace to develop further. ECRI offers guidance and detailed criteria to help facilities make this decision.
The article is available only through a subscription to Health Devices, which we might as well warn you has a hefty price tag. But with more than 2,000 hospital subscribers, it's an essential resource for many institutions. Health Devices is the healthcare industry’s must-read monthly journal on rapidly changing technologies. With the highest standard of rigorous testing and independent analyses, Health Devices equips healthcare leaders worldwide with the insights needed to stay informed on critical health technology issues and to select safe, cost-effective medical technology. The contents of Health Devices are accessible online in easy-to-use, keyword-searchable files.

A comprehensive follow-up article published in ECRI’s Health Devices journal expands on product specifications and purchasing options. Healthcare facilities can benefit from lessons learned through ECRI’s testing of the process of installing an asset tracking system, included in an analysis in the same journal issue.

ECRI’s evaluation critically examines the performance of four suppliers’ systems products: the Agility Healthcare Solutions AgileTrac, the Ekahau RTLS (Real-Time Location System), the Radianse Find Assets, and the Versus Technology Versus Information System (VIS). The products are rated for two basic locating applications: finding equipment for IPM (inspection and preventive maintenance) and recalls, and finding it for clinical use. One model is rated Preferred for finding equipment. The systems are also rated for a more advanced application: inventory optimization and workflow improvement only one received ECRI’s Preferred rating for this advanced application. Healthcare facilities that decide to implement an asset tracking system will find ECRI’s recommendations essential in the selection and purchasing process.


For information on purchasing ECRI’s guidance and evaluation on asset tracking as published in the October and November issues of Health Devices, or for more information about Health Devices System membership, contact ECRI by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA; by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5891; by e-mail at communications(at)ecri.org; or by fax at (610) 834-1275. ECRI’s European office can be contacted at info(at)ecri.org.uk, ECRI’s Asia-Pacific office can be contacted at asiapacific(at)ecri.org, and ECRI’s Middle Eastern office can be contacted at middleeast(at)ecri.org.

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