How should a hospital organize governance for an RTLS implementation?

Form a cross-functional steering committee or working group with representatives from Biomed, IT, Nursing, executive leadership, Surgical Services, ED, Patient Safety, Risk Management, Security, and Infection Prevention to create, manage, and maintain the process.

What planning process helps ensure a successful RTLS rollout?

Use a formal plan—such as a 12-week assessment and development plan—with a designated team lead providing weekly status updates, quarterly reports to senior leadership, and annual executive debriefs to align budget, vision, and satisfaction.

How can we align RTLS initiatives to enterprise strategy and demonstrate ROI?

Map each RTLS initiative to strategic pillars like quality and safety, access and throughput, labor and supply chain optimization, and quantify value in buckets such as cost avoidance or increased productivity to report clearly to executives.

How do we get staff, patients, and families to buy into RTLS?

Address privacy and safety concerns, explain operational and safety benefits, share provider documentation, and let people see advantages like rapid staff assistance and smoother patient experiences; optional patient tags are often accepted once explained.

Should we pilot RTLS before scaling across the enterprise?

Yes—test with small roll-outs in select departments or with a scaled-down implementation to surface issues, validate value, and refine processes before a full rollout.

5 Lessons Learned When Implementing Enterprise-Wide RTLS

The article outlines five key lessons for implementing enterprise-wide Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) in hospitals, emphasizing the importance of forming a multidisciplinary steering committee, establishing a formal planning and assessment process with regular updates and executive reporting, and aligning RTLS deployment with the healthcare organization's overarching strategic goals to maximize value and ensure successful adoption.

We’ve asked a few of our top customers, “What advice would you offer to those implementing RTLS in their hospitals?” Read on to discover the top 5 lessons learned!

1. Form a steering committee/working group

Before rolling out RTLS in your healthcare facility, create a steering committee or working group to create, manage, and maintain the process. Multiple departments will play a role in the deployment and benefit from an RTLS solution, so select representatives from divisions such as Biomed, IT, Nursing, C-level executives, Surgical Services, ED, Patient Safety, Risk Management, Security, and Infection Prevention.

Use this group to develop innovative applications of your RTLS infrastructure after the initial deployment. As they become experts in the system, they can evaluate new use cases, brainstorm ideas, and manage ongoing implementation and maintenance.

2. Create a formal planning and assessment process

A formal plan, such as a 12-week assessment and development plan, helps prove and maximize value and prioritize RTLS applications. This ensures a well-thought-out and successful launch with minimal surprises.

As part of your steering committee, designate a team lead to provide regular status updates to the working group (weekly is recommended). These updates should summarize what’s active, in progress, or delayed, and what needs to be paused for reevaluation. This keeps everyone aligned and serves as an ongoing “lessons learned” platform.

On a quarterly basis, report projects underway to senior leadership, and annually debrief executives regarding the program. This provides an opportunity to discuss budget, vision, and patient satisfaction, ensuring organization-wide support for “Enterprise-Wide Visibility.”

3. Align to your enterprise strategy

Every healthcare organization has fundamental principles, such as quality and safety, access and throughput, labor optimization, supply chain optimization, patient engagement, and population health. Task the working group to consider how RTLS can enhance these pillars. Categorize each RTLS initiative into the strategic area it supports to clearly report ROI to hospital executives. For example:

Staff duress/panic alerting, infection control, and hand-hygiene compliance relate to quality and safety.
Patient flow applications, asset loss prevention, temperature monitoring, and automatic patient check-in fall into other categories.

Quantifying each initiative into value buckets like cost avoidance or increased productivity helps justify the program’s value.

4. Get buy-in by proving the value to patients, staff, and family members first

Staff, patients, and family members may have concerns about RTLS, such as privacy or safety. It’s important to explain how RTLS improves hospital operations and enhances protection for staff and patients. Address concerns about the safety of the technology (your RTLS provider should have documentation to share). When people witness the benefits—such as quick assistance from staff badges, infection control, or smoother patient experiences—RTLS adoption often grows. In one facility, patient tags are optional, but once explained, most patients accept them.

5. Test with small roll-outs before implementing on a broader scale

No matter how well you plan, unexpected issues may arise. Before a large-scale rollout, test the process in smaller departments or with a scaled-down implementation. Once confident in the value and process, proceed with a full rollout.