Asset tracking for healthcare
Benefits
Using RFID technology has improved our care and provided a return on investment by saving us hundreds of thousands of pounds and thousands of hours of nurses’ time.
Asset tracking for healthcare
Used at numerous hospitals and other healthcare organisations throughout the UK and beyond, RFiD Discovery provides an affordable and scalable asset tracking solution that enables users to improve the management of healthcare assets.
The system provides visibility of the locations of medical devices and other assets including infusion pumps, syringe drivers, feeding devices, scanners, monitors, wheelchairs, mattresses, beds, IT equipment and communication devices. This helps to cut down on time spent locating equipment and helps to improve utilisation to reduce capital expenditure.
The RFiD Discovery system is ideal for tracking the locations of any assets in healthcare including medical devices, beds, mattresses, wheelchairs, gas cylinders, laptops and communication devices.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology can be used to locate high value assets in real-time to within 1 to 3 metres accuracy depending on infrastructure. This is ideal for tracking mobile devices such as infusion pumps, ECG monitors, medical scanners, beds, wheelchairs and more.
Using low cost passive RFID technology allows for the tracking and auditing of large volumes of medical devices and other assets to include all high value and low value items.
Many hospitals rent some of the equipment they use including medical devices and beds. Often if a suitable bed cannot be found, a new one is hired. By being able to accurately locate any available equipment, unnecessary hires can be avoided to reduce costs.
The RFiD Discovery system can also help locate items which are due for return to avoid late return charges.
By integrating the RFiD Discovery system with existing systems such as the asset management database, it's easy to locate devices which are due for servicing or repair.
Why track your medical assets?
The loss and underutilisation of mobile medical equipment costs the healthcare sector millions of pounds each year.
Particularly in acute hospitals, typically large multi-floored sites with over 10,000 assets, it's a struggle to keep track of equipment with staff clocking up hours and miles searching for available devices or out of service equipment.
Improving visibility of the location of essential equipment can considerably improve operational performance.
The system has been a great time saver. We used to spend as much time looking for equipment as we did servicing it.
How does asset tracking work?
Passive RFID tracking
In addition, passive RFID tags with GS1 compliant barcodes (where required) are used to keep an inventory of all medical assets, including lower value items. This provides an asset identification system that complies with the most recent mandate from the UK Department of Health. RFID Discovery passive tags can replace standard asset labels.
Location data
Signals from BLE and passive RFID tags are picked up either by a network of fixed readers, mobile readers or both. Mobile readers can be either a hand-held PDA system fitted with a radio frequency (RF) reader or the specially equipped RFID Discovery trolley.
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White Paper: The role of active and passive RFID as part of an effective medical device management system
Download white paper
Find out how Plymouth NHS tracks 40,000 medical devices
Case study about the UK's largest GS1 compliant RFID system in healthcare
Find out how to track medical devices in real-time, and see locations on a map of your hospital.
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