Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) solutions are location-based services used in numerous industries, including healthcare, retail and manufacturing. RTLS offers a precise, indoor tracking system based on several technologies such as active radiofrequency identification (RFID), infrared, low frequency RF and Bluetooth low energy (BLE).

Commercially available for 40 years, passive RFID identifies tagged objects and people using radio waves that are sent by a specialised RFID reader. Identifying information contained in a tag is detected only when in close proximity to the reader.

In contrast to passive RFID technology is CenTrak’s Second Generation Infrared (Gen2IR) system. It’s an RTLS technology that is utilised in combination with active RFID to show an entity’s location in real-time. IR fills the defined space and the tags actively send a signal to communicate their location. CenTrak’s active RFID technology does not need bulky, expensive readers to interpret radio waves — it is simple to install and can be consolidated with an existing Wi-Fi system. In addition, CenTrak’s Gen2IR system rapidly solves many RTLS healthcare issues by efficiently streaming information to both new and existing applications.

Applications benefitting from an active RFID-supported RTLS in healthcare settings include supply chain applications, especially those involved with high-cost devices such as infusion pumps, medical scopes and crash carts. Each of these requires high levels of traceability from suppliers to hospitals to patients. RTLS solutions also reinforce quality assurance and control applications to facilitate instrument tracking processes for infection control.

OR staff must know the location, movement and interaction of patients, staff members and critical assets for effective operating room workflow. CenTrak’s RTLS drives true workflow automation because it offers accurate visibility into this information. It helps streamline manual tracking systems, offering location- and time-specific data that includes patient location, department work queues — waiting room, pre-op, intra-op, PACU and post-op — and milestones, minimizing stress and improving both overall efficiency and the bottom line.

Having a streamlined and effective workflow in a hospital is most important. CenTrak’s RTLS supports hospital staff as it works to improve patient response times, empowering hospitals with the ability to understand exactly where assets and staff members are located at all times. CenTrak’s RTLS gives hospital staff immediate access to monitors that display which caregivers are available and where they are located at the exact moment. In an emergency situation, this can mean the difference between getting a patient in critical condition the care he or she desperately needs and wasting precious time that the patient simply does not have.

Patient engagement and satisfaction remain key improvement areas for hospitals nationwide. Patient satisfaction scores, such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), are used to help hospitals better understand their performance and identify areas for improvement. CenTrak’s RTLS provides hospital managers and executives with customizable reports to review performance.

The technology can be integrated with wireless devices and software applications from CenTrak’s partners. As a result, hospital administration can retrieve in-depth reports that illustrate patient and staff data and use this information to reduce patient wait times and shorten visits. This ultimately helps drive higher patient care and satisfaction.

CenTrak automates the data collection of status events and patient-staff-equipment interactions, thereby offering real-time locating and future analysis tools. This technology ensures hospital staff can learn about patient-staff-equipment interactions and find ways to bolster the quality of these interactions every day.

Effective wandering-patient prevention systems such as CenTrak Security Solutions can save lives, money, anxiety and possibly even grief. These reasons alone drive more advanced technology for patient safety and security, including virtual eyes on what is happening and digital alerts that enable an immediate response if someone wanders.

When a CenTrak system is in place, hospitals have greater control over patient security. They can:

Adjust rules and access at the individual level — Some patients may not present any risk and should have greater access to facility amenities, such as lobbies and cafeterias. Others may be better protected by limiting their movement throughout the facility. With CenTrak, hospitals can determine each individual case and adjust the system accordingly to meet their unique needs. Customize by severity (high-risk vs. low-risk residents or patients) — In addition to setting the rules by individual patient, hospitals can program the system for patient classes; high-risk patients can have different settings and permissions than low-risk ones.

Integrate CenTrak Security with existing RTLS for simplicity — Instead of having to upgrade or replace your current real-time location system (RTLS), this solution suite integrates into it. Having one universal system not only saves hospitals money, but it also means minimal maintenance costs.

CenTrak’s system offers a range of benefits to both hospitals and the patients that depend on them. When a CenTrak system is in place, patients have the:

Freedom to interact with others — Even the most unstable patients can still get the support they need, and visit certain hospital areas for social interaction.

Ability to use facility’s resources without a sense of “lock-down” — While security is essential in a hospital setting, patients don’t want to feel restricted. CenTrak’s platform can help facilities empower patients with a feeling of control and freedom while ensuring their safety and security.

Protection from wandering into dangerous areas — Keeping patients out of key areas is not just critical to the safety of staff, but also to the safety of the patients themselves. CenTrak offers hospitals the ability to set zones that are unsafe for patients. If a patient wanders too closely to a restricted zone, staff members are immediately notified to politely redirect them.

Effective wandering-patient prevention systems such as CenTrak Security Solutions can save lives, money, anxiety and possibly even grief. These reasons alone drive more advanced technology for patient safety and security, including virtual eyes on what is happening and digital alerts that enable an immediate response if someone wanders.

When a CenTrak system is in place, hospitals have greater control over patient security. They can:

Adjust rules and access at the individual level — Some patients may not present any risk and should have greater access to facility amenities, such as lobbies and cafeterias. Others may be better protected by limiting their movement throughout the facility. With CenTrak, hospitals can determine each individual case and adjust the system accordingly to meet their unique needs.

Customize by severity (high-risk vs. low-risk residents or patients) — In addition to setting the rules by individual patient, hospitals can program the system for patient classes; high-risk patients can have different settings and permissions than low-risk ones.

Integrate CenTrak Security with existing RTLS for simplicity — Instead of having to upgrade or replace your current real-time location system (RTLS), this solution suite integrates into it. Having one universal system not only saves hospitals money, but it also means minimal maintenance costs.

The real-time visibility technology of CenTrak not only enhances patient/resident safety and security, it will identify any inefficient points or components within the operational functions. Using the system-gathered analytics, a department can streamline the workflow, plan high-value medical equipment inventory numbers more precisely and frequently identify savings opportunities along the way.

CenTrak optimizes the technology as one that can serve nearly any department or entity as a tool to improve the patient experience, create the safest environment possible and boost efficiency.

CenTrak’s range of Enterprise Location Services help ensure that staff, patients, residents and visitors are safe and secure, which naturally augments other facets of care and operations.

Most obviously, people enjoy additional freedoms a lot more than they do restrictions, so a system that allows more liberty equates to better care and perhaps a better quality of life for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

When staff members feel more confident about maintaining safety and security, they can spend more time enhancing the care experience. To talk, pause, laugh and interact with patients and residents are valued parts of care that many nurses and caretakers simply do not have time to deliver.

The greater the operational efficiency a facility can achieve, the more care providers can focus on the patient or resident experience. Generally, staff members have a more positive attitude when they feel as though they are contributing to the organization’s true mission and core purpose, as opposed to possibly wasting time compensating for operational inefficiency.

Hospitals and assisted-living communities have plenty of real crises, and the CenTrak wander management system can be one tool for reducing everyone’s stress level while simultaneously improving care and achieving better efficiency.

Superior safety and security results from the real-time system that gives immediate alerts.

Avoid potential tragedy and family grief.

Improved sense of freedom since safe areas can be designated for patients or residents.

Coordinated care creates patient/resident satisfaction as well as a better overall perception.

Increased individual attention and positive interaction when caretakers have confidence in patient/resident safety

Peace-of-mind awaits the loved ones, as they feel confident, or at least less anxious, about safety.

Dignity must be a part of any caretaker’s considerations – the platform tracks with a tiny tag that can be placed unobtrusively and worn comfortably. Privacy should go without saying, but unlike video and some other kinds of surveillance, CenTrak gives real-time information and graphically differentiates among assets without showing actual images.