RTLS for hospitals
In hospitals, location intelligence means staff find equipment in seconds instead of searching wards, patient flow becomes visible, and lone-worker safety is built in — all tied into the EMR.
Highest-ROI use cases
- Mobile equipment locating — cut rental spend and search time (pumps, beds, wheelchairs)
- Patient flow and bed turn — visible bottlenecks in ED, theatres and imaging
- Staff safety / duress — lone-worker protection
- Hand-hygiene and contact events where clinically relevant
Choosing the technology
BLE Angle-of-Arrival gives the room/zone accuracy most hospital use cases need, at a sensible locator density; UWB is reserved for the few workflows that truly need sub-metre. Integration to the EMR (e.g. Epic) and existing Wi-Fi is usually the deciding factor.
What good looks like
Start with the use case that bleeds money today — usually equipment rental and search time — prove it on one floor, then expand. De-risk with a vendor-neutral pilot before standardising estate-wide.
Frequently asked questions
What accuracy do hospitals need?
Most use cases (equipment, flow) work at room/zone level on BLE; only a few need sub-metre UWB.
Does it integrate with the EMR?
Yes — EMR integration (e.g. Epic) is central, so finds and flow update where clinicians already work.
What's the fastest payback?
Usually mobile-equipment locating: less rental, less hoarding, far less search time.
How do we start?
A discovery on one floor or department, then a pilot. See the healthcare deep-dive and book a review.