Clinic Eliminates Waiting Rooms with RTLS Technology

 

When Providence Health & Services, the largest healthcare provider in Washington state, opened its new clinic in Monroe in October, there was one thing conspicuously missing — the waiting room.

 

Thanks in part to a Real-time Locating System (RTLS) from Versus Technology, Inc., patients are immediately registered and guided to an available exam room, no waiting necessary.

 

Purchased through Versus Certified System Integrator AAtronics, LLC, of Seattle, Wash., the Advantages™ Clinic RTLS allows Providence Monroe to:

 

  • Locate patients and staff and medical equipment with RTLS badges, using a safe combination infrared and radio frequency technology;
  • Immediately direct patients to an available exam room using an automatically updated color-coded floor plan of the clinic;
  • Track how long a patient is in the exam room before being seen by caregivers;
  • Alert staff if a patient is alone for more than 10 minutes at any point during a visit;
  • Display who has seen and who still needs to see each patient on an electronic white board;
  • Automatically indicate when rooms are ready for turnover after patient discharge; and
  • Report on key performance metrics, such as arrival to nurse, arrival to provider, overall exam duration, overall length of stay and more.

 

Providence Monroe’s use of RTLS technology was recently featured by The Monroe Monitor in an article titled, “New clinic uses tech, design to simplify medical visits.”

 

According to a survey conducted by KLAS Research, use of RTLS in healthcare is on the upswing, and 95% of users report operational efficiency gains. Providence Monroe joins several clinics implementing RTLS for patient flow, including Key-Whitman Eye Center,  Karmanos Cancer Center, Pacific Medical Centers and others.

 

Clinics wishing to learn more about RTLS and how it is used in the outpatient environment can download Versus’ educational white paper, “7 Ways RTLS Technology Increases Patient Volume and Improves Satisfaction” at versustech.com/clinics.