- Jamaica Hospital Medical Center (JHMC) says that since it deployed a BLE-based RTLS solution from Cognosos, it now has real time visibility into 1700 assets.
- The use of AI and machine learning enables the system to better identify the location of assets within a room, even with a light infrastructure deployment.
It’s a problem nurses and caregivers have faced for decades: locating medical equipment fast, as needed for patient care.
Looking to technology to help resolve that time-consuming challenge Jamaica Hospital Medical Center (JHMC) conducted research and testing for a full seven years. Now, the hospital has adopted a solution that delivers a real-time view into where assets are and prevents the need for excess supply purchases.
The solution, provided in 2022 by real-time location (RTLS) solution company Cognosos, offers a view into what room assets are in throughout the facility.
What Cognosos Offers
The hospital deployed the solution not only to help nursing staff and caregivers find medical equipment, and reduce excess purchasing, but to address medical equipment preventative maintenance issues. Prior to deploying the technology some equipment was not being maintained on the intended schedule because it couldn’t be found when needed.
First and foremost, however, was a focus on real-time patient care.
“The main challenge was to ensure equipment availability for our patients when needed, which has a direct positive impact on both patient safety and satisfaction,” said Nabil Ibrahim, JHMC’s director of biomedical engineering and asset management.
The Cognosos solution, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with machine learning and AI, offers room-level accuracy without requiring room-level installation of hardware.
Seeking High Accuracy with Ease of Use
JHMC has more than 400 patient beds, serves 17,000 in-patients yearly and 105,000 emergency department patients. The health care company, which also operates the Flushing Jamaica Hospital Nursing Home, annually serves 352,000 ambulatory patients.
The hospital’s research into asset management solutions started in 2016 and looked at a wide spectrum of technologies, said Ibrahim.
“We were primarily interested in a solution that could provide a high level of accuracy and reliability while also having a user-friendly interface,” he said. And it needed to create minimal disruption to the facility and workflow. Additionally, said Ibrahim, “we required vendors to deliver a proof of concept to validate that their system would work at our facility.”
Vetting RTLS Technology Vendors
The hospital vetted seven vendors, but only two offered a comprehensive solution and would agree to deliver a proof of concept. Ibrahim’s team conducted a full proof of concept with both. One offered a complex solution using the hospital’s existing AP infrastructure and a hybrid software system but not deliver the accuracy or ease of use the hospital needed.
The Cognosos solution, however, was live within a week with minimal disruption to staff and the system performance matched their claims, company officials said.
The deployment began with several clinically critical assets such as defibrillators as well as high volume equipment including infusion and compression pumps. Locator tags were applied to each of the assets, and beacons were installed around the facility.
How it Works
As the assets move around the facility, JHMC staff access real-time location data via the Cognosos portal. They can then find the piece of equipment that they require, in the closest location.
The portal offers various dashboards to locate their assets with the touch of a button, to view information including use history, personnel allocation and maintenance cycles.
The portal provides customizable reporting capabilities, enabling the hospital management to understand asset movements and utilization, process completion and potential bottlenecks. Staff can receive notifications of important events like unauthorized asset movement or maintenance reminders.
LocationAI
At the center of the solution is the LocationAI software platform which serves as a machine learning location engine, said Jeff Stiffler, Cognosos’ product marketing director for healthcare.
As the BLE devices transmit data to the self-healing network, LocationAI employs machine learning to identify each device’s location at the room level. AI enables the system to monitor and respond to environmental changes as well, such as new furnishings or infrastructure that could affect transmission, Stiffler said.
The solution is an alternative to more traditional RTLS systems that have required a dedicated reader or receiver in each room in order to accomplish room-level location accuracy. With machine learning and AI, JHMC’s solution can identify the precise location without requiring a separate receiver for each room.
“The combination enabled us to deploy hospital-wide at approximately 600,000 square feet, which was one of the biggest selling points,” said Ibrahim.
Additionally, the location intelligence solution leverages a feature known as ProPAR (Proactive Periodic Automated Replenishment), which ensures that medical equipment is available for clinical staff when and where they need it.
ProPAR automates manual monitoring processes by setting minimum and maximum PAR levels for clean and soiled storage rooms across the hospital. Once reached, the system automatically sends notifications to the requisite JHMC staff, guaranteeing rooms remain adequately stocked.
Tracking iPads for Patient Communications
One request for the RTLS technology came from the hospital’s “Language Assistance” Department when they asked if they could tag and track the iPads used for helping patients. That turned out to be a very handy tool for them, said Ibrahim.
And from the preventative maintenance side, the tool has enabled JHMC to comply with preventative maintenance requirements as well as tracking any potential recalled devices. Both issues are important in order to meet regulatory agencies’ requirements, like The Joint Commission and DOH, Ibrahim pointed out.
Since the system went live, caregivers’ concerns about equipment availability have decreased, allowing them to direct their full energy to patient care. “This helped improve patient safety and calmed our caregivers’ anxiety to locate equipment,” said Ibrahim.
In addition, the yearly loss of equipment the hospital faced in the five years prior to Cognosos implementation, has been reduced by 92 percent, “which translates into an ROI that we could only dream of…since we are a group of non-profit hospitals, our senior management is quite happy to reallocate saved budgets to address other hospital needs,” Ibrahim added.
Refining the Asset Management System over Time
Since the 2022 deployment, LocationAI’s machine learning (ML) location engine has continued to evolve to account for environmental changes, adapting to prevent disruptions or gaps in asset tracking.
Employing LocationAI as the location engine allows JHMC to continuously refine its restocking processes to eliminate overstocking and maximize asset usage.
The LocationAI pairing of ML and AI technologies enables the system to deliver room-level accuracy that’s continually honing performance, resulting in improved accuracy and reliability, said Stiffler.
1700 Assets Visible in Real Time
The hospital has 1,700 assets have been tagged and tracked, and the implementation expanded to cover stretchers and wheelchairs from our transportation department, and some portable ultrasounds.
“We anticipate reaching the 2,500 tag mark soon,” said Ibrahim.
The implementation has expanded to cover stretchers and wheelchairs from the hospital’s transportation department, as well as some portable ultrasounds. In the future, the system may track assets such as hospital beds and IT working stations on wheels.