GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis, is partnering with CenTrak Inc, Newtown, Pa, to offer the new DualTrak hybrid real-time location system (RTLS), a predominantly battery-operated radio frequency ID (RFID) tracking system that merges technologies for room-level location accuracy and long-term scalability.

The system allows health care facilities to accurately view locations at room-level, which may help enhance operational efficiency, improve overall patient care, reduce installation barriers and costs compared to current RFID systems, and maximize return-on-investment potential.

The product is the next generation of active-RFID solutions for GE. The RTLS operates on a separate network that does not interfere with existing health care networks, both wired and wireless. It accommodates virtually an unlimited number of tags and does not consume valuable bandwidth, providing customers flexibility to expand their tracking needs and future applications without an additional burden in the health care Wi-Fi proliferation.

GE has 18 enterprise-wide installations in the United States, 200 workflow consultants, and thousands of managed assets with its RFID tracking systems. RFID solution clients include Emory HealthCare, Atlanta, Ga; Lahey Clinic, Burlington and Peabody, Mass; and Williamson Medical Center, Franklin, Tenn.