Infection prevention is crucial in healthcare, protecting both patients and staff from harmful germs. Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI), sometimes called Hospital-Acquired Infections have been found to affect approximately 750,000 people in the United States annually, causing thousands of preventable deaths and costing US healthcare infection control providers billions of dollars.

Here are some of the top infection prevention priorities we’ve identified for healthcare facilities:

Top-Quality Hand Hygiene Products

Hand hygiene compliance is the first defense against healthcare infections. Using high-quality hand sanitizer products like alcohol-based sanitizers and antimicrobial soap dispensers helps keep hands clean and reduces cross-contamination prevention. These infection control products are essential for maintaining a hygienic healthcare environment, ensuring that pathogens are eliminated effectively with each use.

Reliable PPE Usage

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks, and gowns is essential for protecting healthcare workers and patients. It’s vital to ensure a steady supply and consistent use of PPE infection prevention to prevent hospital infections. Proper training on the correct use and disposal of healthcare PPE further enhances its effectiveness, creating a safer healthcare facility environment for all.

Touchless Restroom Dispensers

Touchless hand sanitizer dispensers for soap, water, and paper towels cut down on surface contact, reducing the spread of germs in healthcare settings. They’re convenient and help keep everyone safer. This touchless hygiene technology not only minimizes the risk of healthcare cross-contamination but also promotes better hand hygiene practices among staff and visitors.

Convenient Hand Hygiene Stations for Staff

Placing hand hygiene monitoring stations throughout facilities makes it easy for healthcare staff to clean their hands before and after patient interactions, helping to stop the spread of healthcare facility infections. Strategic placement of these hand washing stations ensures that hand hygiene compliance becomes a seamless part of the healthcare routine.

Accessible Hand Hygiene Stations for Patients and Visitors

Having patient hand hygiene stations in high-traffic areas and patient rooms encourages everyone to keep their hands clean, contributing to a safer infection prevention environment. Clear signage and easy access help to promote regular use, making healthcare hand hygiene a shared responsibility.

Enhanced Disinfection Practices

Regularly disinfecting high-touch surfaces, equipment, and patient rooms with EPA-approved disinfectants keeps the healthcare facility clean and safe. A rigorous hospital cleaning protocols, combined with the use of advanced disinfection technologies, ensures that potential pathogens are consistently eliminated from healthcare environments.

Monitoring Hand Hygiene Compliance

Using hand hygiene monitoring technology to track hand hygiene compliance rates helps ensure everyone follows infection prevention best practices. Real-time data from RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems) technology can provide valuable healthcare compliance insights. Penguin’s digital platform, for example, combines sensor-equipped dispensers with real-time tracking of staff locations, offering comprehensive hand hygiene oversight and proactive monitoring.

Accelerating Safety Compliance with Digital Platforms

Integrating digital monitoring platforms accelerates healthcare safety compliance by providing real-time tracking and measurement. This infection control technology ensures that staff adhere to hygiene protocols, with sensors in dispensers tracking usage and staff movement. Such healthcare compliance systems allow for immediate corrective actions, maintaining high standards of hospital hygiene.

Ongoing Staff Education and Training

Educating healthcare professionals on infection prevention training is vital for maintaining safety in healthcare settings. Proper training gives staff the knowledge and skills they need to effectively prevent hospital-acquired infections. Healthcare training programs cover a range of topics, including proper hand hygiene protocols (wash-in and wash-out), PPE usage, and environmental cleanliness. Continuous infection control education keeps healthcare workers updated on the latest hygiene guidelines and practices, helping them stay prepared for new challenges.

Encouraging Good Hand Hygiene

Recognizing and rewarding staff for good hand hygiene practices boosts compliance and promotes healthcare cleanliness. Easy access to hand sanitizers and soap dispensers throughout the healthcare facility is key. By acknowledging those who consistently adhere to hygiene protocols, facilities can foster a culture of infection prevention excellence and care.

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By focusing on these infection prevention measures—like using quality hand hygiene products, reliable PPE, thorough disinfection, and advanced monitoring systems—healthcare facilities can significantly reduce infection risks. These HAI prevention strategies create a safe environment for patients, visitors, and staff, allowing facilities to deliver care confidently and safely. Accelerating compliance through digital platforms enhances these efforts, ensuring that hygiene standards are met consistently and efficiently.

At Penguin Location Services, we offer cost-effective solutions for monitoring hand hygiene compliance.

Patient Flow Management: 4 Strategies to Improve Hospital Efficiency

Patient throughput must be addressed on a whole-hospital level using modern solutions like Healthcare RTLS. Every hospital can benefit from better practices in patient flow management—even minor improvements can make a meaningful impact. Here are tips for improving patient flow optimization and creating a healthier, happier, and safer healthcare facility. Here are 4 patient throughput optimization strategies to help hospitals improve patient flow management:

1. Increase Communication and Goals Across All Hospital Departments

Patient throughput must be addressed on a whole-hospital level. Every part of the hospital workflow is connected, and the cause of a patient flow bottleneck may occur several steps before its noticeable effect. For instance, a patient flow problem in the inpatient units may result from issues with discharge procedures. Therefore, all hospital staff members, including nurses, physicians, and administrators, must understand the objective of improving patient flow and the processes required to accomplish related healthcare efficiency goals.

The first step to optimizing patient flow is to create a healthcare team with representatives from every department. This team will identify workflow issues, set patient throughput goals, and oversee changes. They can start by drawing a patient throughput diagram to map the current hospital operations and measure performance, asking questions such as:

• Are there any bottlenecks with the current patient flow process?
• Are all the steps in the current hospital workflow necessary?
• Can some of the steps be completed simultaneously?
• Is there a better way to sequence the patient care steps?
• Can someone with fewer skills perform a particular step?
• What healthcare technology can be used to make steps easier?

After identifying problem areas, the team should set patient flow improvement goals. For example, the hospital can adopt technology like Penguin’s RTLS-enabled Workflow applications to improve communication and streamline hospital processes. Location-enabled workflow solutions consist of wearables for staff, patients, and medical equipment tracking, providing real-time healthcare data and integrating with other healthcare technologies to automate clinical processes.

2. Tighten Up Non-Clinical Services That Support Patient Care

Non-clinical staff members significantly impact patient flow efficiency. These include staff in hospital transportation, housekeeping, billing, and administrative tasks. Hospital management should evaluate non-clinical activities and find ways to improve their speed and operational efficiency. Here are tips for non-clinical healthcare services:

• Invest in training: Ongoing healthcare staff training increases employees’ confidence, engagement, and motivation, leading to improved skills and patient satisfaction.
• Embrace technology: Use hospital technology to automate processes and reduce manual work. For example, healthcare facilities can use RTLS with medical equipment to enable biomedical staff to locate equipment quickly with real-time locations.
• Hire the right staff: Select individuals who fit the hospital’s values and focus on patient satisfaction. Suitable healthcare staff members want to be efficient and provide excellent patient service.

3. Uncover Blind Spots With Real-Time RTLS Location Data

Healthcare professionals often use data from systems like EHR to determine how long each step takes and improve clinical workflows. However, this approach can create workflow blind spots by failing to account for time between patient steps. Penguin’s Workflow Solutions can help uncover these blind spots by automatically collecting real-time patient throughput data. RTLS badges worn by patients provide real-time arrival-to-discharge data, allowing staff to modify hospital processes as they happen.

Examples of Healthcare RTLS benefits:

Ambulatory Practice: Real-time queuing creates an orderly, compliant patient registration and rooming process.

Entire Patient Visit: Patient Tracking Systems measure patient wait times and notify staff of extended waits, enhancing healthcare efficiency.

Radiology and Imaging: Real-time knowledge of patient arrivals maximizes service delivery and minimizes wait times.

Operating Room: RTLS Insights measure OR turnaround time accurately, notifying team members when rooms are ready and updating patient families automatically.

Communicable Diseases: Healthcare RTLS supports workflow redesigns to limit pathogen exposure and enables virtual waiting rooms with contactless check-in and self-rooming.

Contact Tracing: Healthcare RTLS provides data for efficient contact tracing and follow-up actions for staff and patients.

4. Track and Streamline Cycle-Time Measurements

Cycle time measures the duration of any hospital process, such as patient registration to discharge. Efficient cycle times improve patient throughput and reduce the need for additional healthcare resources. Hospital leaders should follow the patient journey through the ED, using RTLS to gather real-time insights automatically. This healthcare data helps identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, enabling hospitals to make informed adjustments.

Additional tips to reduce cycle time:

Staff to meet demand: Ensure the ED has enough healthcare staff during peak times to meet patient demand.

Ensure supplies are easy to find: Use asset tracking to show staff the exact location and condition of critical resources.

Improve registration: Reduce check-in time by minimizing questions and using self-check-in/registration technology.

Increase Patient Flow in Hospitals With Penguin

When patients visit a hospital, they should feel cared for, safe, and appreciated. Healthcare staff should feel confident they have the resources, skills, and time to provide the best patient care possible. Technology like Penguin’s Healthcare RTLS helps reduce stress and simplify tasks for staff so they can focus on what matters most: patient care.

Hospital managers considering RTLS should reach out to Penguin. Penguin offers robust, easy-to-implement Clinical Workflow Applications to improve patient throughput and employee satisfaction. With Penguin, hospitals can reduce costs and increase efficiency as patient volumes continue to grow. To learn more, request a demo or contact us today.

Advanced Indoor Navigation Solutions: Transforming the Way People Navigate Complex Spaces

Navigating large indoor spaces like hospitals, airports, shopping malls, and corporate campuses can be challenging. Traditional signage and maps often fall short in these complex building environments, leading to frustration and inefficiency. This is where advanced indoor navigation solutions come into play, leveraging cutting-edge wayfinding technologies to provide real-time indoor positioning, accurate directions within buildings. Let’s explore the key components that make up an effective indoor navigation system.

Key Components of an Effective Indoor Navigation Solution

1. Mobile Application with Indoor Positioning SDK

A mobile wayfinding application is essential for housing the indoor positioning SDK, which utilizes various location technologies to determine users’ precise locations within a building navigation system. These indoor tracking technologies include:

Radio Signals: Utilizing signals from Wi-Fi positioning and other radio sources to triangulate the user’s position within indoor environments.

Magnetic Fields: Using the unique magnetic fingerprinting signatures within a building to provide location information.

Despite the availability of these indoor positioning technologies, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons remain the de facto standard due to mobile operating systems’ limitations. BLE beacons emit signals detected by smartphones, providing accurate and reliable indoor positioning data.

2. Detailed Maps in Multiple Formats

Effective indoor navigation requires detailed building maps in different formats, including raster and vector maps. Raster maps are pixel-based and offer high detail, while vector maps are composed of paths and shapes, allowing for scalable and interactive mapping features. Both map formats are essential for providing comprehensive navigation assistance.

3. Robust Map Engine

A robust mapping engine is crucial for handling indoor maps and providing user-friendly map interactions. The map engine should perform zoom, pan, and rotate operations smoothly, ensuring users can easily navigate and interact with the interactive building maps.

4. Advanced Routing Engine

The indoor routing engine calculates the shortest path navigation to a destination, considering various factors such as user profiles and abilities. This includes accessibility navigation requirements for individuals with mobility challenges and providing alternative routes when necessary. The routing engine ensures users receive the most efficient and personalized navigation assistance.

5. Comprehensive Content Management System (CMS)

A content management system (CMS) is vital for maintaining and updating the navigation system. The CMS allows facility administrators to:

• Change points of interest (POI)
• Update navigation routes
• Modify building maps
• Perform other configuration tasks and data management

The CMS ensures the indoor navigation system remains accurate and up-to-date, reflecting any changes in the building’s layout or points of interest.

Enhancements for a Superior User Experience

While the components mentioned above form the foundation of an indoor navigation solution, several add-on features can further enhance the user experience:

1. Location-Based Messaging

Location-based messaging can be used as an infotainment tool or monetization feature. This functionality allows administrators to send targeted messages to users based on their current location within the building. For example, users can receive promotional offers when passing by specific stores in a mall or important notifications about events.

2. Analytics, Dashboard, and Reporting

Analytics and reporting tools built on the navigation system’s data provide valuable insights into user behavior and system performance. A dashboard can display real-time metrics, helping administrators understand how the system is used and identify areas for performance improvement.

3. Integration with Outdoor Maps and Routing

Supporting seamless home-to-office navigation, integration with outdoor maps and routing allows users to transition from outdoor navigation (e.g., Google Maps) to indoor navigation seamlessly. This ensures a consistent navigation experience from the user’s starting point to their final destination within the building.

4. Integration with Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)

Integrating the navigation system with MaaS platforms provides users with comprehensive travel options, including public transportation schedules, ride-sharing services, and other transportation modes, enabling users to plan their entire journey efficiently.

5. Augmented Reality (AR) Integration

Integrating augmented reality (AR) can enhance the user experience by overlaying digital information onto the physical environment. AR navigation can be used for positioning tasks, such as visualizing the route directly on the user’s smartphone screen, and providing interactive elements that guide users to their destinations.

Conclusion

An effective indoor navigation solution comprises several key components: a mobile application with an indoor positioning SDK, detailed building maps, a robust map engine, an advanced routing engine, and a comprehensive content management system. These components ensure accurate, real-time navigation assistance within complex indoor environments. Additional enhancements such as location-based messaging, analytics, outdoor map integration, MaaS integration, and augmented reality can further improve the user experience and provide valuable navigation functionalities. By leveraging these wayfinding technologies, indoor navigation solutions significantly enhance the efficiency and convenience of navigating large indoor spaces.

Ready to transform the way people navigate your building? Contact us today to learn more about our advanced indoor navigation solutions and see how we can help improve efficiency and user experience in your facility.

In healthcare, a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is essential for day-to-day hospital operations. CMMS allows hospitals to meticulously monitor medical assets requiring maintenance, ensuring their safe and efficient operation. It also empowers healthcare staff to quickly generate work orders and compile lists of assets awaiting preventive maintenance and repair. Additionally, CMMS can help health systems plan equipment lifecycles and gather valuable operational insights. But how can it be enhanced with Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS)?

The Missing Piece: Limitations of Conventional CMMS

While CMMS enhances hospital asset management, it often lacks real-time location and status information about medical equipment. A CMMS might display the department assigned to a specific piece of equipment but not its exact location, leading to time-consuming searches when the equipment is needed urgently. This gap in information results in wasted hours and increased labor costs.

Given the dynamic nature of hospitals, it’s surprising that many CMMS systems are not yet integrated with RTLS. Initially designed to optimize efficiency and management, CMMS systems are significantly hindered when equipment location remains a challenge for healthcare staff.

Enhancing CMMS with RTLS Integration

Many hospitals have optimized their CMMS systems by integrating RTLS. This CMMS RTLS integration allows staff to quickly locate equipment due for preventive maintenance, saving substantial labor hours. The seamless RTLS integration enhances productivity and key performance indicators, ensuring critical maintenance tasks are completed on time.

Integrating RTLS with CMMS streamlines the maintenance process and reduces the risk of missed maintenance, which could lead to costly equipment downtime and disrupted patient operations. Furthermore, an AI-RTLS-enabled CMMS offers real-time location information, equipment insights, predictive maintenance, and more. Healthcare staff can instantly locate and remove malfunctioning or recalled equipment, reducing potential hazards and ensuring a safer environment for patients and staff.

Maximizing ROI: A Win-Win for Efficiency and Safety

Integrating RTLS-based intelligence into your CMMS system can secure a substantial return on investment while creating a safer environment for patients and healthcare staff. This fusion of CMMS and RTLS is not just a technological enhancement; it’s a catalyst for efficient healthcare management and elevated patient safety. Hospitals adopting this integrated approach can better manage resources, improve patient care, and enhance operational efficiency.

Conclusion

In the dynamic healthcare landscape of 2024 and beyond, integrating RTLS with CMMS is essential for achieving operational excellence and superior patient care. This powerful combination allows hospitals to overcome the limitations of conventional CMMS, providing real-time visibility into asset locations and status. By enhancing maintenance processes and optimizing resource utilization, hospitals can significantly reduce labor costs, prevent equipment downtime, and ensure a safe environment for patients and staff. Embracing this technological integration is a strategic move that positions healthcare facilities at the forefront of innovation, ensuring long-term sustainability and a commitment to exceptional patient outcomes.

Ready to enhance your hospital’s efficiency with integrated RTLS and CMMS? Contact us today for a demo and see how our solutions can transform your operations

Healthcare leaders can save thousands of hours wasted on administrative tasks by implementing a reliable  Healthcare RTLS solution for hospital equipment tracking and medical asset management solution. With advanced and affordable healthcare technology solutions available, these asset tracking systems offer significant return on investment. However, it’s essential to consider the total cost of ownership, including capital investment, installation costs, user training, ongoing maintenance, and recurring expenses when selecting a future-proof hospital asset tracking and management solution.

Medical Asset Tracking Challenges

Lack of visibility in medical equipment management leads to inefficiency in healthcare facilities. One-third of nurses report spending at least an hour per shift searching for medical devices and hospital equipment, resulting in asset hoarding, over-procurement, and increased operational costs. Without Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) and healthcare asset tracking, biomedical staff often spend more time locating medical assets than servicing them.

Healthcare Asset Tracking Solutions

Active Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 enabled hospital equipment tracking provides comprehensive asset visibility at the room level, enhancing operational efficiency and automating clinical workflows. These medical asset management solutions offer fast, intuitive asset searches and automate equipment workflows such as PAR-level management, preventative maintenance scheduling, and medical equipment distribution. Automating tasks like maintaining real-time PAR values and sending alerts when these values are compromised ensures critical medical assets are available when needed, improving hospital operations and patient care delivery.

Automate Healthcare Asset Workflows and Improve Patient Care

Active BLE 5.1 asset tracking tags on mobile hospital equipment provide real-time location tracking and status data. Healthcare staff can use asset tracking software to view equipment locations, ensuring availability when needed. This speeds up preventative maintenance and compliance workflows, supporting timely, patient-centered care and clinical efficiency.

Meaningful Benefits of Hospital Equipment Tracking

• Cost Savings: Egress alerts and exit monitoring reduce the risk of lost or stolen equipment, and utilization analytics help right-size your medical equipment inventory, minimizing unnecessary purchases and maximizing asset utilization.
• Clinical Efficiency: Quick asset location searches eliminate wasted steps, allowing healthcare providers to locate and set up critical medical devices quickly, directly impacting the time spent with patients and improving clinical productivity.
• Enhanced Care Delivery: PAR-level management reduces delays by ensuring critical hospital equipment is available when and where needed, promoting the highest-quality and timely patient care and healthcare delivery.
• Regulatory Compliance: CMMS integrations facilitate efficient preventative maintenance and equipment recall procedures, ensuring patient safety, healthcare compliance, and optimal medical equipment condition.

Conclusion

Advanced BLE 5.1 technology in hospital asset tracking offers numerous benefits, enhancing operational efficiency and patient care quality. These healthcare asset management solutions provide reliable, accurate, and affordable medical equipment tracking, helping hospitals and healthcare facilities deliver the highest-quality care without increasing costs. By leveraging comprehensive medical equipment tracking solutions, hospitals can reallocate valuable time to patient care, achieve cost reduction, and maintain high regulatory standards, leading to improved patient outcomes and operational excellence in healthcare delivery.