The Best Indoor Location Technology Designed for Smart Hospitals

Location Information That Saves Lives – The Role of Location Data in Healthcare Settings

Nurses at major hospitals spend 20-30% of their working hours searching for medical equipment. Wheelchairs, ECG monitors, IV pumps, and other essential devices are scattered throughout the hospital. Simply locating these items takes an average of two to three hours each day. This creates a serious problem by wasting the valuable time and energy of medical staff who should be focusing on patient care.

Emergency rooms experience this problem more severely. When an emergency patient arrives, delays in diagnosis can occur if staff must first search for a mobile X-ray machine or an ultrasound device. Transport can also be disrupted if a wheelchair cannot be located. In cases where every second matters, delays like these can put a patient’s life at risk. These situations also place a heavy burden on healthcare professionals and increase their stress levels.

In medical treatment, the concept of the golden hour is critically important. For patients in cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be administered within four to six minutes to prevent brain damage. Stroke patients must receive treatment within three hours of symptom onset. In such cases, having accurate location information for medical equipment directly affects the life and safety of the patient.

The Fundamentals of Indoor Location Technology for Hospitals

What kind of location tracking technology is needed in the unique environment of a hospital? In hospitals that operate around the clock, 24 hours a day, stopping medical services or carrying out construction to install new infrastructure is nearly impossible. The ability to introduce a solution without affecting hospital operations is the most important factor.

IPIN LABS’ technology uses the Wi-Fi and BLE infrastructure already installed in hospitals. This allows the location tracking system to be set up without any additional facility work. The self-supervised deep learning algorithm makes it possible to deploy the system within 24 hours, even in complex hospital environments. This level of speed allows the solution to be implemented without disrupting the hospital’s schedule, which is a major advantage.

IPIN LABS’ RTLS technology also detects movement between floors and automatically identifies specific areas such as intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency rooms. This provides medical staff with accurate location information. Through the real-time monitoring system, staff can check the location of essential equipment at any time and respond quickly in emergency situations.

How Location Data Makes Hospitals Smarter

Introducing indoor location technology in hospitals can significantly reduce the time medical staff spend searching for equipment. By locating needed devices and immediately checking their exact position and usage status, time previously wasted moving through the hospital can be reduced by more than 90%.

Time saved in this way leads to better medical service. When equipment such as examination wheelchairs or ECG monitors is available without delay, wait times caused by postponed tests or procedures become shorter. Medical staff also face less stress and fewer non-clinical tasks, which allows more focus on patient care and naturally improves patient satisfaction.

Accumulated location data also helps hospitals operate more efficiently. By analyzing equipment usage rates and movement patterns, hospitals can build effective equipment management plans. Real-time location data can be connected with the hospital information system to manage equipment usage history, maintenance schedules, and inventory in a unified way. This forms the foundation of a smart hospital environment.

Due to these benefits, the global healthcare RTLS market is expected to grow by an average of 18 to 22 percent per year, reaching a scale of 500 to 800 million dollars between 2028 and 2030. In Korea, more medical institutions are beginning to adopt smart hospital systems, which is increasing interest in healthcare RTLS solutions.

Technological Development Direction for the Next-Generation Medical Environment

With the advancement of IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) technology, indoor location technology will move beyond simple equipment management and become an essential part of the infrastructure for next-generation medical environments. In future smart hospitals, accumulated location data will be used to predict equipment demand ahead of time and place devices in the most suitable locations. Hospitals will also have the ability to create digital twins of their entire facilities, allowing them to test a variety of operational scenarios in virtual spaces before applying them in actual settings.

Future healthcare RTLS will develop into a unified platform through full integration with Hospital Information Systems (HIS), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). Achieving this will require reliable communication between medical devices and compliance with international standards. IPIN LABS is continuously improving connectivity with different systems by aligning with these standardization efforts and maintaining an open platform structure.

The main goal of advancing RTLS technology in hospitals is to support patient-centered medical services. Helping medical professionals focus more on treating patients and allowing those patients to receive care in a safer and more comfortable environment reflects the direction technology should follow. IPIN LABS is working toward this future by continuing to improve its technology and by providing better medical services for both healthcare providers and patients.