Part of An introduction to Real Time Location Systems
Introduction and background
What is RTLS
RTLS stands for Real Time Location Systems and refers to any system that tracks and determines an item or person’s location. RTLS is not a specific type of technology, but a goal that can be accomplished through a variety of technologies and systems for locating and managing assets.
RTLS lets you see and track in real time where assets and people are physically located, and track where they have been. Having the ability to track people and assets in real time supports digital transformation and has the potential to drive enormous productivity and efficiency gains for health and care and crucially improve patient care.
- people tracking, knowing exactly where the nearest porter and wheelchair are to a patient, or where the patient and crash team are in real time
- in contagion outbreaks, RTLS could let you see who was in an area when the outbreak occurred and where they are now in your building, helping manage the potential spread of infection
- knowing where key medical devices are in real time can be a significant efficiency tool when providing patient care
- bed management and occupancy tracking, seeing in real time if beds are free and where they are, improving data accuracy, allowing for central coordination via an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and reducing ward staff workload
- stock control and asset management, tracking when items are taken out or introduced to the stock control system could be automatically updated in real time without the need for manual input, allowing for the servicing and maintenance of equipment to meet compliance requirements
This paper will look at what RTLS services are currently available and the technology that drives them. However, this makes up only one layer of the solution, and for any successful application of an RTLS service you will need to establish a clear understanding of what you want to track and have clear building plans that identify the rooms and locations you want to track in. These plans will need to be in a format that can be imported into the RTLS system you have chosen.
Consideration will also need to be given as to how you want the data to fit in to, or change, your current working practices to maximise return on investment and any GDPR and personal privacy considerations.
Last edited: 16 April 2025 11:53 am