The new 20-Mile Ultra Long-Range Bluetooth beacon from Apptricity, Irving, Texas, helps healthcare professionals find the equipment they need no matter where it is located in the medical building. The new Bluetooth beacon has the ability to transmit data up to 20 miles and through up to 20 building floors.

“Our new 20-Mile Ultra Long-Range Bluetooth is the perfect solution for healthcare facilities,” says Tim Garcia, CEO of Apptricity. “Time is of the essence in the medical profession. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff need to know where their equipment is at all times. Searching for these items during the most vital moments of treatment could be the difference between life and death.”

Garcia continues, “Many of our global customers were struggling with the costs of tracking their expensive on-site equipment. When you add to that the equipment on ambulances that come in and out of healthcare facilities, the cost of satellite tags or LTE tags becomes prohibitive, especially with the amount of equipment that needs to be tracked.”

Tracking within hospitals is of particular concern when dealing with medical support equipment specifically designed to be portable. In recent years, workstations-on-wheels and other patient support and diagnostic equipment have been designed to be mobile, allowing these devices to be shared among patient rooms and treatment areas. While this trend reduced the need for dedicated equipment as well as the associated cost, it increased the challenge of finding available equipment when it is needed.

In the current pandemic environment, mobile equipment also presents a potential transmission medium for patient-to-patient contamination. The ability to track devices within hospitals offers the data required for contact-tracing between staff, patients, and the equipment used to support their care. 

Apptricity’s Ultra Long-Range Bluetooth Beacon is highly configurable. Versions can be created with or without GPS, multiple battery options exist to extend life, encryption options are available, the signal can be tuned for energy savings, and other capabilities can be adjusted to create a bespoke solution for healthcare facilities of all types.