A comparison of real-time location systems, breaking down technologies, features, and key specifications.
Real-time location systems (RTLS) have become an essential tool in healthcare technology management (HTM), giving organizations greater visibility into equipment, staff, and patient movement. However, systems can vary in their underlying technologies, integration options, features, and overall capabilities.
This RTLS comparison guide highlights specifications from vendors to help HTM teams evaluate which solutions best align with their operational and technical needs. It highlights differences in hardware, workflow capabilities, pricing structures, and other features to support informed decision-making.
AiRISTA – Sofia
Midmark RTLS- Midmark CareFlow RTLS
TrueSpot Health – MedSpot 360 powered by AQFind
Cognosos – Cognosos
CenTrak – CenTrak End-to-End RTLS Platform
HID Global – HID Healthcare RTLS
Litum – Real-Time Location Systems
(Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the guide to see all products listed)
| Company Name: | AiRISTA | Midmark RTLS | TrueSpot Health | Cognosos | CenTrak | HID Global | Litum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTLS: | Sofia | Midmark CareFlow RTLS | MedSpot 360 powered by AQFind | Cognosos | CenTrak Real-Time Location System for Healthcare | HID Healthcare RTLS | Real-Time Location Systems |
| Website: | airista.com | careflowrtls.com | truespothealth.com | cognosos.com/ | centrak.com/ | hidglobal.com/solutions/rtls-healthcare | litum.com |
| Description: | AiRISTA’s Sofia(TM) RTLS platform provides real-time location intelligence across assets, patients, staff, and workflows. The platform supports Wi-Fi and BLE-based deployments, multiple location methodologies, and integration with existing wireless infrastructure and enterprise systems. Its hardware portfolio includes asset, patient, and personnel tags; environmental sensors; embedded Soft-tag capabilities; and BLE/Wi-Fi infrastructure. Sofia supports configurable rules, dashboards, alerts, reporting, and workflow automation across healthcare use cases including asset tracking, staff safety, patient flow, wander management, hand hygiene, and temperature monitoring. | Midmark RTLS stands out for deep healthcare expertise, robust technology, and a strong customer success mindset. Its hybrid IR/BLE architecture enables facility-wide coverage and precise, room-level locating, with broad interoperability across EMR and nurse call systems, plus open APIs for flexible integration. A dedicated team of experts and regionally certified System Integrators provide expert guidance and support at every stage. Midmark RTLS is consistently ranked as a top 3 RTLS vendor by KLAS and is recognized for its long-standing Epic integration including Epic Toolbox designation for RTLS and real-time, bi-directional data exchange. | MedSpot 360 from TrueSpot is the next-generation location-powered asset management solution that is purpose-built for healthcare and hospitals. This end-to-end solution is powered by the proprietary and multi-patented AQFind™ campus network. Our plug-and-play wireless network, ultra-small TrueTags™, and mobile-friendly MODAR Mode™ (Mobile + Radar) make deployment fast and asset tracking precise, even for hidden equipment. With robust reporting, asset proximity alarms, and seamless integration, TrueSpot delivers rapid ROI, fewer lost assets, and greater staff efficiency with minimal IT burden. | Cognosos is unlike any other RTLS solution as we use a proprietary AI Hierarchical Inference Framework to directly determine the location of all tracked devices, delivering highly confident, highly accurate real-time location throughout the hospital without having to install hardware in every room. This is achieved with the installation of simple BLE reference beacons (long-life, battery-operated) that provide reference points for the AI algorithm to reference against. Cognosos also provides outdoor location visibility, which is an often-requested requirement for staff safety solutions. | CenTrak offers cost-effective BLE solutions for broad visibility across people, assets, and environments and the industry’s most accurate clinical-grade, real-time location data to power critical workflows. Validated interoperability with EHR, CMMS, nurse call, and other health IT systems connect location intelligence directly to clinical and operational workflows. With asset tracking, staff duress, nurse call automation, environmental monitoring, patient flow, infant protection, wander management, hand hygiene, wayfinding, and more, CenTrak partners with customers to drive adoption, demonstrate outcomes, and maximize return on their RTLS investment. | The HID RTLS platform enables real-time coordination of assets, staff, and patients through our portfolio of solutions including asset management, staff safety, Infant security, wander management, wayfinding, hand hygiene, environmental monitoring, and clinical workflow. Our goal is to improve efficiency and safety across hospitals. Our solutions are designed specifically for healthcare, and our team of clinically trained specialists is here to support our customers in both their mission and ours, which is why our focus is always first and foremost on delivering solutions that will keep patients safe. | Litum combines multiple location technologies in one platform, matching zone, room, door or sub-meter precision to each clinical need. The same architecture supports staff duress, infant security, wander management, patient flow, staff workflow, clinical asset tracking and compliance applications. Open APIs connect with EHR, nurse call, access control, video and BI systems. Litum provides the hardware, location engine, applications, deployment and support, creating single-point accountability. Hospitals can start with one unit or priority, then scale without adding another disconnected platform. |
| Year RTLS Launched: | 2023 | 1995 | 2022 | 2019 | 2007 | 2016 | 2004 |
| Primary use cases supported: | Asset tracking, staff workflow, patient tracking, hand hygiene compliance, temperature/environmental monitoring, staff duress | Asset tracking, staff workflow, patient tracking, temperature/environmental monitoring, staff duress, nurse call automation, patient flow, interfaces, contact tracing | Asset tracking, patient tracking | Asset tracking, staff workflow, hand hygiene compliance, temperature/environmental monitoring, automated equipment distribution, native PAR room management, staff duress/panic wearable devices | Asset tracking, staff workflow, patient locating, hand hygiene compliance, temperature/environmental monitoring, clinical workflow, staff duress, nurse call automation, infection control, safety solutions, wander management, digital wayfinding | Asset tracking, staff workflow, patient tracking, infant protection, hand hygiene compliance, temperature/environmental monitoring, wayfinding | Asset tracking, staff workflow, patient tracking, infant protection, hand hygiene compliance, temperature/environmental monitoring, wander management, contact tracing, staff duress |
| Technology types used: | Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, BLE Angle of Arrival (AoA), GPS where applicable, and multiple location methodologies including proximity, RSSI/trilateration, and AoA | Infrared, Ultrasound, Bluetooth low energy, Wi-Fi, RFID, Ultra-wideband | Bluetooth low energy, Wi-Fi, Proprietary LoRa + LTE + MODAR Mode, and proprietary implementation and integration of technologies | Bluetooth low energy, AI hierarchical inference framework, a deep-learning neural network situation-extraction with Ensemble Voting final stage | Second Generation Infrared (Gen2IR), Bluetooth low energy, Wi-Fi, RFID, low frequency GPS | Bluetooth low energy, RFID, ultra-wideband, LF | Bluetooth low energy, RFID, untra-wideband, LoraWan, GPS |
| Deployment models offered: | Cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid | On-premises, hybrid | Hybrid | Cloud-based | Cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid | Cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid | Cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid |
| Typical hospital profiles served: | Large hospitals that are part of IDNs, national hospitals, state and county hospitals, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, community hospitals, and critical Access hospitals | Hospitals, outpatient clinics, oncology centers | Acute care facilities, surgical centers, community hospitals, senior centers, academic medical centers, IDNs, pediatric hospitals, trauma centers | Large community hospitals that are part of IDNs, state and county hospitals | Academic medical centers, IDNs and health systems, acute care hospitals, children’s hospitals, community hospitals, critical Access hospitals, senior care communities, ambulatory surgery centers | Acute care hospitals, academic medical centers, IDNs | National hospitals, long-term living facilities, community hospitals, behavioral health centers |
| What hardware components are available? | Asset, patient and staff tags; duress and man-down badges; Soft-tag; temperature/humidity and hand hygiene sensors; BLE beacons; Wi-Fi/BLE and BLE AoA gateways | CareFlow RTLS leverages a hybrid architecture to deliver both precision and scalability. It uses infrared technology for room- and bed-level accuracy, supported by sensors, badges, and asset tags. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) enables near-room locating and works with sensors, badges, and tags, while also being compatible with existing BLE-capable infrastructure. Wi-Fi provides zone-level locating and supports asset tags only, with compatibility for existing Wi-Fi-capable infrastructure. | Wide range of ultra small and long battery life trackers (eg TrueTags). Various small form factors (Triangle, SIM-Tag, Teardrop, Sticker Tags, Flex Tags (waterproof) Tags (replaceable battery). All form factors are highly IP rated; some have replaceable batteries, and all are easily attached to any and all hospital assets. Proprietary indoor (USB and battery powered) and outdoor (solar + battery) BLE/LoRA gateways. Proprietary asset proximity alarms (used to detect critical assets entering forbidden areas or exiting designated areas). | Asset tag, staff badge with call button, Beacon, gateway, exit monitors, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, hand hygiene sensor | BLE and multi-mode asset tags, patient and infant wearables, BLE Multi-Mode staff badges with customizable buttons (including a dedicated option for staff duress), environmental monitoring sensors and probes, hand hygiene sensors, BLE gateways, room-level monitors, virtual walls, LF exciters, security door/elevator controllers, and more | Tags include staff badge with call button, infant security tag, asset tag, temperature and environmental sensors, patient locating tags, high-risk patient tamper tags, and ABHS/soap dispenser tags. Infrastructure, including readers, indoor/outdoor gateways, and exciters | Staff badge tag, Licare patient tag, Little infant tag, Dualis asset tag |
| Integration capabilities: | CMMS, EHR/EMR, nurse call, building systems, clinical systems, wireless infrastructure, APIs, low-code integrations | Nurse call, CMMS, EMR systems like Epic, alarm suppression, smart IV pumps, patient engagement, digital whiteboards | TrueSpot APIs enable secure, real-time data exchange with external systems, supporting workflows like preventive maintenance updates, asset status syncs, or patient-flow automation. The platform can push or receive location events, asset metadata, or usage state changes in real time, allowing for bidirectional integrations where required. | CMMS, nurse call, building security, infusion pump platforms, other integrations (uses an open API first model) | EHRs, CMMS, nurse call, building automation, clinical communication, security, infotainment, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth infrastructure platforms through an open integration philosophy | CMMS- Service Now, Nuvolo, AIMS, TMS; Nurse call- Westcom EHR/digital engagement – Epic, Cerner, Get Well, Video management systems- Genetec, Milestone, Ocularis, Avigilon, Access aontrol – Lenel, CCure, Mass notification / alarm management – Tiger Connect, Connexall, Spok, Lynx +, others | Open API and can integrate with almost any platform. LenelS2 certified. |
| Workflow and analytics features: | Configurable rules engine, dashboards, reporting, alerts, zone entry/exit, dwell time, presence/absence, PAR levels, workflow automation, asset utilization, patient flow and staff safety workflows | Nuse call automation, staff duress, asset tracking, patient flow, analytics, contact tracing, interfaces | Near real-time location data across thousands of assets. Integrated with PowerBI, it delivers analytics and reports on asset utilization, travel history, PAR levels, and equipment loss prevention. | Automation of clean equipment distribution, automation of soiled equipment pick up, automation of transport equipment staging, mobile equipment utilization and availability metrics, preventative maintenance schedules, environmental monitoring, hand hygiene compliance rates by floor and department | Real-time map views and dashboards, customizable alerts, workflow monitoring, AI-enhanced analytics and reporting. CenTrak’s reports and proactive AI-assisted insights help healthcare organizations optimize asset utilization, improve staff safety, enhance patient flow, track environmental compliance, increase hand hygiene performance, and quantify the impact of workflow automation initiatives. | Customizable reporting, alerting, and dashboards are incorporated into all of our solution suites; for example asset utilization, patient & staff safety alerting, hand hygiene compliance, environmental monitoring, and patient and staff workflow. | Live dashboards, floor plans, configurable rules and real-time alerts support faster response. Reports on wait times, coverage, visits, utilization, dwell time, movement and compliance reveal bottlenecks, guide decisions and provide audit-ready records. |
| Support and maintenance: | In-house, vendor-managed | Hybrid | In-house, vendor-managed, hybrid | Vendor-managed | In-house, vendor-managed, hybrid | Hybrid | Vendor-managed, hybrid |
| Pricing model: | Most common purchases are one-time tag purchases with a multi-year software subscription tied to each tag. Costs vary by module, tag type, and infrastructure type. | Pricing typically includes capital expenses and annual expenses, although operational models are also available. Cost is dependent on the size of the deployment, use cases, and location. | Flexible subscription tiers based on the number of tracked assets and selected features, with one-time hardware and installation costs. | SaaS-based subscription based on facility size, number of tracked assets, monitored devices (soap dispensers, refrigerators, etc), and supported staff. | Flexible capital, subscription, hybrid, service bundle, and enterprise-wide options. | Infrastructure sold as one-time cost with software as a subscription. | Flexible pricing models |
Last updated September 2026.
Information for this guide is based on data submitted by RTLS marketers. 24×7 strives for accuracy in all data but cannot be held responsible for claims made by marketers. All RTLS marketers get one listing at no charge. Advertisers are offered multiple listings. All RTLS platforms may not be included. Email [email protected] to be considered for the next update.
