Real time location system can make hospitals more efficient and improve patient care

Results from the first multidisciplinary university study examining the impact of a Real Time Location System (RTLS) deployed throughout a hospital show that the technology for tracking mobile medical equipment is driving increased operational efficiency and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, while also enabling nurses to spend more time with patients and improve staff morale.

A thorough evaluation of the impact of implementing the RadarFind RTLS at Southeastern Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Lumberton, N.C. analyzed the system’s influence on the management of equipment support, nursing and patient care, as well as hospital finances. The study results, soon to be published in the Journal of Clinical Engineering, revealed that the technology allowed staff to reduce time spent searching for tagged equipment by 96 percent, saved the hospital $750,000 in indirect costs, and illuminated potential future benefits as the new technology is further integrated into the hospital’s operations and culture.

“The level of data generated by these systems has the potential to profoundly change the management of technology and the delivery of patient care,” said Barbara Christe, the lead researcher for the study team and associate professor and program director of Biomedical Engineering Technology at the joint research campus Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. In 2008, Christe, her colleagues and students received the 2008 Outstanding Management & Technology Paper award from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) for their research on adapting radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to a clinical application.

The research team also included a professor of electrical and computer engineering technology and an associate professor of accounting from the business school. “Southeastern Regional Medical Center is a model for how a clear, cooperative, synergistic relationship between hospital administrators and various clinical staff departments can support the success of a real time location system in meeting stated objectives,” said Christe.

Leveraging real-time data to make hospitals more efficient and improve patient care

SRMC estimates that nurses spent at least one hour per day searching for equipment, resulting in an hour saved for locating tagged equipment since the RadarFind system was installed. On an annual basis for the 120 nurses working at the hospital, the annual indirect savings is $750,000, and nurses are able to spend more time with patients.

Additional savings may be realized from reducing capital expenditures based on using equipment utilization data gathered by the system. During the study, RadarFind representatives demonstrated that utilization data could support a smaller amount of infusion pumps than the hospital was planning to purchase. Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro, N.C. (not part of this study) deployed RadarFind in 2006 and was able to reduce a planned infusion pump purchase by 20 percent in less than one year after installation from evaluating the utilization data. This resulted in a capital purchase savings of $276,000 and annual operating cost savings of $27,000.

In surveys and interviews, clinical engineering staff reported that the time spent searching for tagged equipment has been reduced from 4 hours a day to less than 10 minutes. In addition, preventive maintenance compliance rates for tagged equipment have improved from 90 percent monthly to a consistent 100 percent. Nursing staff are also reporting greatly improved hospital efficiency as they are now able to locate previously “hidden” equipment, and reported job satisfaction has risen accordingly.

“As a former nurse I understand the frustration experienced by nursing staff when they must search for equipment,” said Joanne Anderson, president and chief executive officer of SRMC. “This technology supports our nurses and enables them to spend more time caring for patients, ensuring that our patients receive the utmost quality of care and benefitting hospital staff morale.”

RadarFind is the only RTLS to feature a three-state, color-coded status switch on tags to mark equipment as available (green), in-use (yellow) or needs cleaning/decontamination (red). This can be a powerful tool when leveraged as part of a hospital’s infection control procedures. For example, a piece of equipment with a “dirty” status tag may be identified if it is mistakenly placed in a clean storage room. In addition, by analyzing the time-stamped location history of a piece of equipment or patient, data gathered by the RTLS can be used to track an infection in a hospital. Causal relationships between contaminated medical devices and infected patients can also be easily determined.

Wide-ranging potential for future impact

The study identified initiatives that could increase the benefits of RTLS, ranging from eliminating the need for an annual physical inventory to referencing the history of equipment used in each patient room to ensure accuracy when billing a patient or insurance company. Other suggestions included analyzing data to determine where a piece of equipment is most likely to be used in order to develop a better storage plan for those items. An RTLS will undoubtedly help reduce equipment loss due to misplacement or theft.

RadarFind, the only RTLS designed by former doctors and hospital administrators to meet the unique requirements for tracking mobile medical equipment and people in hospitals, was recently acquired by TeleTracking Technologies, Inc., the market leader in patient flow automation. Together, the companies will continue to improve hospital operations by linking information gathered through wireless sensor networks, RTLS and intelligent software to hospital procedures thereby reducing waste and driving more efficient processes for patient care.

“The transformational results attainable by implementing our suite of automated tracking solutions for hospitals are influencing process changes throughout the facility, as evidenced by this study,” said Michael Nelson, president of RadarFind. “The combination of technologies from RadarFind and TeleTracking offers hospitals the most comprehensive answer to the need for tracking and accountability, and reducing unnecessary costs while improving efficiencies and overall patient care.”