Have you ever heard the word beacon? If this all sounds Greek to you, don’t worry! We’ll be more than happy to introduce you to the basics of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon smart technology. How can beacon technology be used in hospitals and what are its benefits? Keep reading!
Beacon technology – what is it?
In a nutshell, devices developed based on beacon technology continuously transmit a radio signal that can be seen by other devices. Thanks to this, your smartphone or laptop with Bluetooth can receive these signals and process them in a particular way.
A brief introduction to how beacons work
As you already know, beacons are small wireless devices that continuously transmit signals and ID numbers. These signals and numbers are seen by other devices that have Bluetooth. Then, your smart devices share these signals with cloud servers that process the information, check what kinds of actions are assigned to the received ID numbers, and send relevant data back to your smart device.
Top benefits
Let’s say you’re traveling through a large, unfamiliar airport and you’re running late. You’ve never been here before and the signage just isn’t as helpful to you as it should be. You could stop and ask someone for directions but there’s no guarantee they will know what you’re talking about or be able to explain it clearly. What can you do?
If you’re lucky enough to be in an airport that thinks about passengers like you in situations like this, there are beacons everywhere that support a dedicated wayfinding app for the facility. Once you download it, the beacons placed on the wall will start sending signals to your device and consequently, you’ll receive needed information that will guide you to where you need to go. Of course, as you may guess, apart from the map the app will probably include catchy pieces of content that are supposed to encourage you to make a purchase at a gift shop or eat lunch in an airport restaurant.
Therefore, beacon technology brings benefits both to users and enterprises. But let’s talk about the health sector.
How can beacon technology be used in hospitals? 3 benefits
- Monitoring room occupancy and patients to ensure that everyone is safe and to quickly check how many beds in your facility are available. Thanks to this, you can help the optimal number of patients and avoid situations when people are admitted to the hospital, but there is no bed for them.
- Improving employee satisfaction. Healthcare professionals that don’t have to waste time to look for patients or devices will be more satisfied with their job. Moreover, this way doctors can work more efficiently as they don’t get distracted so easily thanks to the fact that beacon technology allows them to automate certain processes.
- Tracking assets. Every person who specializes in hospital management knows that lost or stolen devices and equipment are a pain in the neck. Beacons and smart solutions make it possible to monitor assets and patients in real-time, which helps to avoid many problems and unnecessary expenditures.
The takeaway
Beacon technology can bring numerous benefits to institutions from various sectors, including healthcare. To facilitate everyday work and meet the requirements of the changing world, it’s worth taking advantage of modern solutions.
