The average US hospital has “about 25% more mobile devices than they can actually use based on patient volume and case mix,” primarily because “the majority of healthcare organizations are not linking device acquisition to usage patterns or clinical need.” For a 200 bed hospital this equates to over $1.3 million in excess capital expenditures and $160K in annual service costs due to poor asset utilization.
Combine that staggering figure with data from Cisco putting the average number of devices per bed at a hefty 15-20, and it is no surprise that hospitals are having difficulty properly estimating and understanding their actual equipment needs.
When supply falls short, many hospitals will bridge the gap by quickly renting items of a specific asset class, or in some cases, purchasing new assets to stave off future shortages. But regardless of whether the assets are purchased or rented, the costs of possessing excess equipment adds up.
As asset pools grow; however, one thing is made very apparent: without the proper tools and data, understanding actual asset utilization and true asset needs is nearly impossible. Luckily, room level real-time location solutions (RTLS) provide granular, real-time asset location information that provides powerful historical usage data and patterns to help hospitals gain visibility to their actual equipment needs.
Real-time asset visibility enables hospitals and healthcare facilities to right-size inventories and ensure that they are able to meet historic and seasonal patient demand by leveraging data specific to their facility’s needs.
RTLS from Cognosos enables facility-wide, room-level asset tracking capabilities that unlock insights beyond usage to help guide inventory management. In addition to real-time snapshots of asset availability, our precise tracking capabilities also enable visibility to device shrinkage and loss, asset cycle times for actions like sterilization and maintenance, as well as the ability to monitor PAR levels and notify staff if inventory levels are low.
If you’re curious to learn more and truly see how modern RTLS can help hospitals save time, money, and resources, then download our eBook “5 Myths About Hospital RTLS That Cost, Time, Money, and Resources” now.
You can also see how a real application of Cognosos saved a hospital over a million dollars annually in our Hospital ROI Case Study.
Interested in learning more? Check out our Healthcare & Hospital Solution or send us a note at info@cognosos.com.
