In today’s complex healthcare environments, hospitals and healthcare facilities are under constant pressure to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance staff efficiency. Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) are emerging as a critical tool to meet these common goals hospitals hope to achieve.
RTLS in healthcare refers to a system that uses tags, sensors, and software applications to track the real-time location and movement of people and valuable medical equipment. From preventing staff duress events and monitoring hand hygiene compliance to optimizing patient flow and temperature-controlled storage, RTLS empowers hospitals and healthcare centers to make data-driven decisions that improve safety, streamline operations, and enhance clinical workflows.
In this post, we’ll explore what RTLS is, how it works in healthcare settings, and how AiRISTA’s healthcare-focused RTLS solutions—powered by our Sofia software platform—can help transform hospital operations by improving safety, streamlining patient flow, and ensuring the right equipment is available at the point of care without overprocuring.
What Is RTLS in Healthcare?
Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) are advanced wireless technologies that leverage a combination of sensors, tags, and network infrastructure to continuously monitor, identify, and track the precise location and movement of assets or individuals. RTLS provides real-time visibility by transmitting location data to a centralized platform, enabling dynamic mapping, workflow automation, and analytics across complex environments like hospitals. In healthcare, RTLS is commonly used to track the real-time location and status of:
- Patients
- Staff—including duress and panic alert capabilities
- Medical devices and equipment
- Patient workflow and patient wandering
- Refrigerated assets (e.g., vaccines, blood units), including continuous temperature monitoring for compliance
- Hand hygiene events, supporting infection prevention initiatives
RTLS helps healthcare facilities and hospital systems create safer, more efficient environments. It provides visibility into key workflows and events, helping facilities minimize delays, improve patient safety, and enhance overall quality of care.
How RTLS Works in Hospitals
An RTLS solution typically consists of:
- Tags or badges attached to people or mobile assets
- Sensors, beacons, and gateways that receive signals from tags
- Software that maps, visualizes, and analyzes location data with high location accuracy
The system collects and processes data to provide real-time insights into movement and status. This location intelligence is then used to trigger alerts, automate workflows, and support operational decisions to improve clinical operations and streamline operations.
Why RTLS Is Essential for Modern Healthcare
Healthcare environments are dynamic and fast-paced. A missing piece of hospital equipment or an unclear patient status can trigger delays, reduce operational efficiency, or even compromise safety.
RTLS brings order to this complexity by:
- Automating manual tracking processes
- Enhancing coordination between departments and clinical staff
- Reducing time spent searching for portable equipment or patients
- Preventing bottlenecks in patient flow and waiting rooms
- Enabling fast response to staff duress situations and emergency incident time reduction
RTLS makes hospitals smarter and more responsive, creating a foundation for safer and more efficient patient care.
AiRISTA’s Purpose-Built RTLS Healthcare Platform
At AiRISTA, we design healthcare-specific RTLS solutions that go beyond basic location tracking to address the unique challenges faced by hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Our RTLS hardware is engineered for high-precision tracking in complex indoor environments, while our Sofia RTLS software platform brings it all together in a unified, intuitive interface. AiRISTA also takes RTLS a step further by enabling workflow orchestration—helping hospitals streamline task management, automate routine processes, and optimize staff efficiency.
The Sofia RTLS Software Platform
Sofia is AiRISTA’s enterprise-grade RTLS software, purpose-built to support a wide range of healthcare use cases—without requiring a dedicated infrastructure. Sofia leverages your hospital’s existing Wi-Fi and network systems to deliver:
- Real-time visualization of patient, staff, and asset location
- Rules-based workflows for alerts and notifications
- Analytics and reporting to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in clinical workflow
- Integrations with EHR, nurse call, and other hospital systems
With Sofia, healthcare teams can automate routine processes, reduce manual errors, and gain real-time visibility into operations, improving efficiency and patient experience.
Top Use Cases for RTLS in Healthcare
AiRISTA’s healthcare RTLS solutions are tailored to address key operational challenges. Below are some of the most common and impactful applications:
1. Staff Duress & Personnel Safety
Protecting frontline healthcare workers is more critical than ever. AiRISTA’s staff duress solution enables personnel to quickly call for help using a wearable tag. When activated, the tag transmits the staff member’s exact location to security or supervisors, ensuring rapid response during emergencies. With the B4i tag’s two-way communication capabilities, staff also receive immediate confirmation that help is on the way—providing an added layer of reassurance in high-stress situations.
Key benefits:
- Faster response during violent incidents and emergency situations
- Real-time visibility into location and movement
- Two-way communication confirms assistance is on the way
- Reduced risk of harm to medical staff
2. Asset Tracking & Equipment Management
Hospitals rely on thousands of mobile assets—wheelchairs, infusion pumps, mobile workstations, and more. Yet nurses and clinicians often waste valuable time searching for them. AiRISTA’s RTLS asset tracking system ensures every piece of critical hospital equipment is always accounted for.
Key benefits:
- Reduce search time for mobile equipment and portable equipment
- Prevent loss, theft, and stolen medical devices
- Reduce rental fees and unnecessary capital spend
3. Patient Flow Optimization
Patient flow disruptions are a major cause of delays and overcrowding in hospitals and emergency departments. With AiRISTA’s Sofia software and patient flow manager, facilities can track patient movement, monitor room and hospital bed status, and identify process delays.
Key benefits:
- Minimize transfer delays and waiting room bottlenecks
- Improve discharge efficiency
- Enhance patient satisfaction and health outcomes
4. Temperature Monitoring in Hospital Refrigerators
Proper temperature control is essential for medication, vaccines, and blood products. AiRISTA’s RTLS-enabled temperature monitoring solution provides automated, real-time alerts when storage units go out of range—eliminating the need for manual logs.
Key benefits:
- Help maintain compliance with industry regulations
- Protect expensive or life-saving medical inventory
- Reduce manual logging burden on staff
5. Hand Hygiene Compliance
Infection prevention remains a top priority. RTLS helps improve hand hygiene compliance by tracking clinical staff interactions with handwashing stations, linking events to room entries or patient contact.
Key benefits:
- Improve compliance rates
- Identify training opportunities
- Reduce risk of hospital acquired infection (HAI)
6. Wandering Patient Prevention
For dementia or memory care patients, wandering presents a serious safety risk. AiRISTA’s RTLS wander management solution can automatically alert staff when at-risk patients leave authorized zones, enabling quick intervention.
Key benefits:
- Prevent elopement
- Improve patient safety
- Reduce reliance on constant manual supervision
Benefits of RTLS in Healthcare
Whether deployed for one use case or many, RTLS delivers lasting benefits to hospitals and healthcare systems:
- Improved patient safety through faster response times and proactive alerts
- Reduced operational costs by optimizing equipment and staff utilization
- Higher staff satisfaction due to fewer manual tasks and better safety protocols
- Better care coordination across departments, exam rooms, and facilities
- Scalable solution that grows with your hospital’s needs
Why Choose AiRISTA for Your RTLS Needs?
AiRISTA is a proven leader in healthcare RTLS technology. We offer:
- Enterprise-grade software: Sofia is built for healthcare scale, security, and flexibility.
- In-house hardware design: Our tags, sensors, and infrastructure are designed and tested for hospital environments.
- Open integrations: Seamless interoperability with existing systems, including EHR, nurse call, and building automation platforms.
- End-to-end support: From system implementation and design to long-term success, AiRISTA is your RTLS partner.
Final Thoughts: RTLS Is the Future of Healthcare Operations
RTLS is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a foundational technology for modern healthcare. From improving staff safety to streamlining patient flow and automating compliance, RTLS brings visibility, accountability, and intelligence to every corner of the hospital system.
AiRISTA’s end-to-end RTLS solution delivers the reliability, scalability, and flexibility needed to support your clinical staff, operational, and compliance goals.
Learn More About AiRISTA’s Healthcare RTLS Solutions
Ready to transform your hospital with real-time visibility? Explore our Healthcare Solutions page to learn more, or schedule a personalized demo to see our RTLS solutions in action.
FAQs
What is RTLS in healthcare?
RTLS stands for Real-Time Location System and is used in healthcare to track the exact location of people, medical devices, and assets within a hospital or healthcare facility. This real time tracking improves patient safety and operational efficiency by providing accurate location data.
How does RTLS improve staff safety?
RTLS allows staff to send discreet duress alerts with their real-time location, enabling rapid response from security teams during emergencies. This technology reduces emergency incident time and enhances overall staff protection.
Can RTLS help with hospital asset tracking?
Yes, RTLS tracks mobile medical equipment and valuable hospital assets, reducing time spent searching and preventing loss or theft. This improves equipment utilization and helps reduce equipment repairs.
How does RTLS support patient flow?
RTLS provides visibility into patient locations and hospital bed status, helping healthcare executives identify and resolve bottlenecks in clinical workflow. This leads to improved patient experience and smoother hospital operations.
What role does RTLS play in temperature monitoring?
RTLS-enabled sensors continuously monitor medication refrigerators and freezers, providing real-time alerts if storage conditions fall outside safe ranges. This ensures compliance and protects sensitive medical inventory.
Can RTLS prevent patient wandering?
Yes, RTLS triggers alerts when at-risk patients move beyond authorized zones, helping prevent elopement and enhancing patient safety. This system supports staff in managing patient movement efficiently.
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