Indoor Location Technology for Managing Elective Surgery Patients in Hospitals

With the increase in healthcare spending, efficient resource management in surgical hospitals has become essential, especially with regard to managing patient flow to avoid delays. Therefore, tools that can provide instant visibility of the patients location in each sector can be of great value in choices about resource allocation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the applicability of indoor location technology in a hospital environment.

Prospective study, carried out from February to March 2024, in a private surgical hospital, with tertiary structure, specialized in the care of elderly patients. The records of the path of each elective patient were mapped from their arrival to the moment of their discharge, as well as the activities of the professionals involved, through an indoor Bluetooth location device.

320 patients were analyzed, with an average stay time in the reception of 25 minutes and the time in the preoperative preparation unit of 107 minutes. Urology, mastology, and oncology surgeries represented 50% of the case series. The median transport time for these patients was 19 minutes. Reception (75.6%) and nursing admission (72.5%) were the sectors with the highest percentage of correct execution. The delay rate was 89.9% in the first time slot, and in subsequent times the delay was significantly lower (70.1%) compared to the time scheduled on the map.

Indoor location technology has applicability when used in the intra-hospital environment in the management of surgical patients, facilitating the identification of bottlenecks and their causes.