Use of location systems surging within healthcare

The global real-time location system market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 46 percent between 2017 and 2021, according to a report from Technavio Research.

The top three sectors that will be investing in RTLS technology are healthcare, transportation and logistics and government, the study said.



In transportation and logistics, the market’s growth is fueled mainly by the use of RTLS for the real-time tracking of automobiles of military forces, aerospace and defense, and healthcare organizations. During the forecast period, the market is also expected to experience significant growth because of the rise in the adoption of RTLS in tracking goods.

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“When integrated with a WMS [warehouse management system], RTLS delivers operational labor savings, supplier relationship improvements, incentivized performance gains, and space savings,” said Abhishek Sharma, a lead analyst at Technavio for machine-to-machine and connected devices.

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In healthcare, one of the fastest growing sectors in the RTLS market because of the increased use of patient monitoring and asset tracking in hospitals, RTLS is used for applications such as asset and inventory tracking, and patients' activity and safety tracking.

And in government, various agencies are using RTLS tags and systems to improve services and become cost effective. The adoption of RTLS by government hospitals and other segments such as retail, transportation and logistics, and hospitality is expected to drive the demand for RTLS in government in the coming years.