How Does Real-Time Inventory Visibility Transform Hospital Asset Management?
Once hospital staff experience the power of real-time inventory visibility, they don’t want to go back to being in the dark.
Has your hospital or health system experienced the pain of these common inventory management challenges?
- High annual capital spending. Across the United States, healthcare technology spending exceeds $30 billion—making it a primary cost driver in hospitals only second to labor.
- Overspending on equipment. Yes, you need to have the right healthcare tech. But you don’t need too much of it. Unfortunately, lack of asset visibility causes hospitals to overspend on capital equipment by up to 50%.
- Underutilizing equipment. How much is the average clinical device used direct patient care? The average device provides between 40% and 45% of its time in a facility.
As hospitals face surges in patient demand alongside shortages of available staff, it’s more important than ever to optimize inventory.
Use RTLS Data to Optimize How You Allocate Resources
A real-time asset management solution automates manual processes for managing inventory. Staff can easily see the location and status of assets across an enterprise. With these insights, you can control distribution, increase fleet utilization and improve operational efficiencies. A Real-Time Location System (RTLS) platform also captures data and provides analytics to help you learn more about how assets are being used. You can then apply those insights to make better in-the-moment decisions and long-term improvements.
Once RTLS tags are in place, you can use real-time snapshots to see equipment locations and figure out where they’re used the most. With these basic insights, you can make significant improvements in how you’re allocating equipment for high-use units or areas.
What’s more, after investing in an RTLS solution for medical asset tracking, you can identify patterns of equipment “hoarding.” You may find that certain areas have been stockpiling equipment because they lack confidence in their ability to obtain or locate the equipment they need in a timely manner.
RTLS-enabled inventory visibility gives you a better understanding of asset usage patterns. It also empowers you to locate areas with excess equipment pools or misplaced in large storage areas—so you can more efficiently allocate equipment and make better capital planning decisions.
Read more about additional asset management advanced use cases.
