When hospitals compare RTLS options, there are many critical factors to consider. You should start with the most foundational questions: What problem are you trying to solve? What outcomes do you want to achieve? From there, key questions about installation (and related costs and disruption), implementation, and how actionable the system’s data is should be answered.
Financial questions often quickly follow: What’s the solution’s installation and start-up cost? What’s the total cost of ownership? When can we expect to see an ROI with this RTLS?
And while all of these questions need to be answered as your team makes its way through the decision-making process, there are three critical questions about buying a real time location system for your hospital that frequently get overlooked, but can make the difference between implementing a tool that is going to bring quick ROI and improve patient care and one that simply leaves you with buyer’s remorse.
Will this RTLS vendor provide us a proof-of-concept?
Hospitals considering the purchase of an real-time location system should always request a proof-of-concept (also called a pilot or test run). These demos are short-term, on-site applications of the solution that can help potential customers see how the RTLS works on real use cases. But agreeing to do a proof-of-concept can also expose the shortcomings of an RTLS that vendors gloss over in their slick marketing pitches. For that reason, many refuse to offer a proof-of-concept—and that should raise a red flag for hospitals. A proof-of-concept is critical if hospitals want to avoid sinking a lot of money into a solution that sounds great in theory but doesn’t work in reality.
Is this RTLS solution highly accurate nearly all the time, or only sometimes?
Many RTLS vendors boast that their systems are highly accurate (margin of error). What they don’t like to talk about is how often those solutions are highly accurate (confidence). If an RTLS can find an equipment tag within six feet 95% of the time, then it’s capable of delivering actionable data that can guide a hospital’s decision-making. If an RTLS can find tags within six feet only 50% of the time, it cannot make that promise—and this is a common situation among RTLS solutions. Asking an RTLS vendor specifically about the solution’s confidence factor is essential to ensuring the hospital invests in a system that’s capable of delivering the ROI the hospital needs.
Will this RTLS solution operate independently of the hospital’s wireless network?
Most hospitals do not want to add an RTLS to their main WiFi network because any additional traffic can hinder its mission-critical operations, such as updating patients’ electronic health records. When an RTLS does operate on a hospital’s main WiFi, its messages are typically de-prioritized, meaning there can be significant delays for alerts. And an RTLS running on the hospital’s WiFi will also be inoperable anytime the network goes down or undergoes maintenance. That’s a complication that typically requires an expensive visit from the RTLS vendor to get the solution back online. Asking whether the RTLS solution runs on its own independent network is a critical question many hospitals overlook before implementation.
An RTLS is a significant investment that hospitals must get right on the first try in this age of tight budgets. Signing up for a solution whose price seems to fit just right today may lead to big headaches down the road. Asking these three questions can help your hospital ensure that the RTLS solution you choose will, in fact, deliver the benefits that can bring efficiency, enhanced patient care, and quick ROI.
Cognosos can answer “yes” to each of these questions. To learn more about how Cognosos’ AI-Powered RTLS can help solve your hospital’s asset management and staff duress challenges, contact us today to schedule your demo.
