What are the Benefits of Patient Tracking in Hospitals?

Patient tracking in hospitals is like keeping an important watch on where patients are and how they’re doing while they’re at the hospital. It’s like making sure everyone is safe and getting the care they need. To provide better care, physicians monitor and track their patients in the hospital using a remote patient tracking system. There have been many ways they track them, such as using spreadsheets, activity trackers, wearable biosensors, etc. Now, as technology is advancing, patient tracking systems are seen in the form of RFID tags and IoT-enabled devices.

Since hospital patient tracking systems have yet to gain mainstream popularity, not many healthcare providers know about their benefits. In this blog, we will help you understand in detail the benefits of patient tracking systems in hospitals. Let’s go!

What is a Patient Tracking System in Hospital?

Just as technology is advancing every other industry and making things easier, patient tracking systems in hospitals have become an efficient way to monitor patients. Using them, doctors can easily monitor each detail of the admitted patients.

Gone are the days when care providers used pen and paper or spreadsheets to monitor their patients’ conditions. Now, with technology, hospital patient tracking systems have become more advanced than ever. With AI and IoT, smart medical devices have replaced traditional ones.

The tracking systems provide real-time updates on the patient’s health and condition, such as their glucose levels, blood pressure, diabetes, or any other ongoing disease. These tracking systems play a significant role in detecting early signs in patients and saving lives by giving accurate details. They are essential, especially for monitoring patients with dementia.

Now that you know what a patient tracking system is, the next section will explain its importance.

Why Are Hospital Patient Tracking Systems Important?

As per a study by MSI International, 4 out of 5 Americans embraced remote monitoring of their health. Another of their studies found that nearly 60-70% of consumers said they were willing to participate in remote patient monitoring programs to monitor heart rate, blood sugar, and other conditions. In the conclusion of their studies, it was seen that the US patients valued the remote patient tracking systems as they offered efficiency, greater accuracy, and control over personal health.

Tracking patients from anywhere guides healthcare providers in giving proper diagnoses and managing operations efficiently. Patient tracking systems reduce the chances of errors or mistakes and improve communication. They also help locate patients in case they leave the hospital premises for any reason. The systems are helpful, especially to find dementia patients who may wander and not know where they are headed.

Not only does tracking patients benefit the health providers and patients but also satisfy family members of the admitted patients. The family members or visitors can get timely alerts and notifications when any emergency arises via the patient monitor app.

9 Benefits of Patient Tracking in Hospitals

What if there was a way to predict a patient’s condition beforehand that could save their life? Patient tracking in hospitals is a way of medical management that ensures each aspect of a patient’s health is tracked. This helps align operations better and ensure patient safety. Below are the 9 benefits of patient tracking. Let’s discuss each of them one by one.

1. Improved Efficiency

A patient tracking system can work wonders in boosting the efficiency of healthcare facilities. By automating various processes and streamlining workflows, these systems help healthcare providers save time and increase productivity. Patient tracking systems simplify appointment management. Center Health Solutions platform allows healthcare providers to schedule and track appointments digitally, reducing the need for manual paperwork and phone calls.

This not only saves time but also minimizes the chances of errors. Additionally, these systems enable healthcare professionals to monitor and track patient progress more effectively. They provide real-time updates on patient status, including their location within the facility, their current stage of treatment, and any pending tests or procedures. This information helps healthcare staff stay organized and ensures patients receive timely care.

2. Enhanced Patients Safety

Enhanced patient safety is a crucial benefit of patient tracking systems, as these systems play a vital role in reducing medical errors and ensuring the well-being of patients by keeping accurate and up-to-date records of patient information, cations, and treatments. This way, healthcare providers deliver the right care to the right patient at the right time.

A patient tracking system gives healthcare professionals easy access to comprehensive patient profiles, including medical history, allergies, and current medications. This information is important in preventing adverse drug interactions, allergies, or any other complications that could cause harm to the patient. By having this information readily available, healthcare professionals can make informed decisions and provide treatment accordingly.

3. Better Communication

Effective communication is essential in healthcare, and patient tracking systems facilitate seamless communication among healthcare providers. These systems enable the sharing of patient information, test results, and treatment plans in real time. This eliminates the need for manual communication methods such as phone calls or paper-based records, which are prone to fewer mistakes. With patient tracking systems, healthcare providers can communicate efficiently and make well-informed decisions about patient care. This improved communication leads to better coordination, enhanced patient satisfaction, and improved health outcomes.

4. Efficient Resource Allocation

Efficient resource allocation is a key benefit of the patient tracking system. These systems help healthcare facilities best use their staff, equipment, and facilities. By tracking patient flow and identifying barriers, healthcare providers can optimize their resources to ensure they are utilized effectively. This means that the staff members can be assigned areas where they are most needed, equipment can be allocated based on demand, and facilities can be utilized skillfully.

5. Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction is a crucial aspect of healthcare that goes beyond just receiving medical treatment. It encompasses a patient’s overall experience during their hospital or healthcare facility stay. Patients who experience efficient care and reduced wait times are more satisfied with their hospital stay. This can lead to positive feedback and a better reputation for the hospital.

6. Helps Locate Patients

One of the major benefits of a patient tracking system is that it helps locate patients in real time. Healthcare providers sometimes have to deal with high-risk patients, such as those who have dementia or any mental health issues. They cannot always be available near the patients, especially when dealing with many patients. The patient tracking system is an ideal solution as it aids in real-time tracking of patients anytime, anywhere. The patient tracking software efficiently identifies and locates patients, thereby spending more time on each patient and their condition. By adapting to tracking systems, hospitals can reduce the instances of losing patients, which is common for those who suffer from mental health disorders.

7. Reduces Wait Time for Patients

It becomes hectic and unmanageable for healthcare centers and hospitals to manage the load of patients. Incorporating a remote patient tracking system optimizes the operations and allows the healthcare staff to look into a higher volume of patients at a given time. Imagine a patient arriving at the hospital in a critical condition, and no staff is available to attend. The patient cannot afford to wait for long and worsen their condition. In such instances, a patient tracking system makes things easier.

The patient would not have to wait extra time to get treatment, as the tracking system will automatically log their arrival. After logging into the tracking system, the patient’s conditions would be analyzed, and they would be set as a priority over others.

8. Alerts in Case of Emergency Situations

Advanced systems like RFID technology are used to notify the hospital staff when any emergency situation arises. RFID (Radio frequency identification) technology is used in the form of attached tags on the patients to transmit information on their location to the RFID readers. The use of RFID in hospitals brings benefits like streamlining hospital workflows and cutting additional operational costs. This is because the RFID immediately notifies about abrupt situations and increases the response time for a patient requiring immediate attention.

Imagine a patient in critical condition, and a healthcare provider is not available in the patient’s room. If an abrupt situation arises, the healthcare provider might go uninformed about how the patient’s condition got worse. Through the alert systems, the providers are informed immediately that a patient requires immediate attention. This helps save lives as it reduces the chances of any treatment delays, which happen when providers are not informed immediately.

9. Reduce the Chances of Mishappening

Usually, patients are tracked through wearable tags or devices, as each has a unique identifier. These enable their care providers to track each movement as they move around the hospital. The wearable tags emit signals detected by sensors, which transmit data to a central system that the hospital staff accesses.

They get comprehensive access to patient details such as their medical history, allergies, and ongoing medications, if any. When such information is readily available, healthcare providers are better able to make informed decisions, provide effective treatment options, and help reduce mishaps.

10. Centralizes Medical Information and Records

In the realm of technology, the days of managing patient data under scattered files and papers are gone. Patient tracking systems serve as a way to centralize medical information and patient records. These systems create a unified platform where patient data can be stored and managed properly. This allows healthcare providers to quickly access patient medical history, past diagnoses, and other lab results.

RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification tags, are used to centralize patients’ medical records. The RFIS tags are worn by patients and help in accessing their health records. A centralized data management system lets healthcare providers instantly access up-to-date patient data that helps improve treatment decisions.

11. Drives Data-Driven Decision-Making

Today, every industry, including healthcare, is utilizing data to drive informed decisions. The remote patient tracking system records all the patient’s data, which the hospital staff can use to get an overview of the internal processes. Based on the data and its analysis, healthcare staff can easily decide what tasks are a priority and hence make data-driven informed decisions.

When it comes to patient data security, these tracking systems ensure that patient information is secure and private. This is because they implement robust encryption and comply with stringent healthcare regulations from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US. By following such regulations, patient tracking systems ensure that patient data is handled with confidentiality and secure data management practices are followed.

12. Assists in Efficient Patient Handling

When things go smoothly and in a systematic and informed manner, the staff can adequately manage patient handling. When hospitals are overcrowded, adjusting patients and treating those requiring immediate attention becomes unmanageable.

The hospital patient tracking system provides real-time patient details and helps determine patients’ urgency levels. This assists hospital staff in analyzing the beds available, prioritizing whom to attend first, and adjusting incoming patients accordingly. These tracking systems, therefore, make things easier by helping staff manage incoming patients and reducing manual cluttered operations, leading to better patient satisfaction.

13. Lowers Unnecessary Expenses

In contrast to traditional manual operations, hospital patient tracking systems aid in efficient resource allocation. When resources are utilized in the best way, it lowers unnecessary expenses. As healthcare providers are well-informed about patients’ conditions, they can better optimize resources in the right direction. Through the patients’ RFID data, they can create models to predict the necessary medications and equipment.

Further, these systems assist us better in managing staffing levels and bed availability so that the resources are used most efficiently. Implementing high-end technology devices such as RFID and RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems) decreases the money spent on equipment repairs or maintenance for efficient resource allocation.

14. Informs the Patient’s Family of their Progress

A patient tracking system not only informs patients and healthcare providers of the patient’s vitals and medical records but also informs their family members about their current status and progress. More than the patient, his family members are worried about the status of his condition. They are the ones who are told to wait for a long time and remain clueless about the patient’s health status.

These systems aid in improving visitor satisfaction by notifying and informing them of the status of their family members. The visitors get real-time information about the patients’ condition via the tags or sensors that are attached to them. These tags or sensors track the movements of the patients and send the data to the central system, which is then read by the care providers, who inform the visitors or family members of the patient.

Provide the Best Patient Care Solution in Jacksonville FL

Patient tracking looks like the future and will likely change hospital management’s structure. In contrast to the traditional manual operations that often lead to mismanagement, unattended patients, and other concerns, remote patient monitoring systems seem like an efficient way to transform the healthcare industry.

Not only do they boost confidence among healthcare providers, but they also improve the satisfaction levels of patients and their family members. In fact, remote patient tracking systems can be the best technology you can leverage to provide effective healthcare services to patients.

If you provide remote patient monitoring service to your patients and are looking for the best patient care solution in Jacksonville, FL, Central Health Solutions can be your ideal partner. Contact us today for more information.

Final Words

Hospital patient tracking systems can significantly improve the quality of services offered to patients. These systems help locate patients in real-time, centralize medical records, reduce patient wait time, and improve the overall patient experience. Not only do these systems improve patient care, but they also help simplify administrative operations and save costs.

Patient tracking in hospitals is flourishing as it helps patients get better care, improves hospital operations, and gives everyone involved greater confidence in the healthcare process. So, visit Central Health Solutions in Jacksonville to get a solution from healthcare service providers .

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