Projects

Passive Real Time Location System (RTLS) for asset tracking

Project Categories

Care Process & Redesign

Technology

Platform

National Healthcare Group Quality Improvement

Cluster

National Healthcare Group

9 October 2025

The aim of the project is to improve hospital efficiency, optimize asset utilization, and enhance overall productivity by. The Passive RTLS system successfully improved asset tracking efficiency, allowing hospital staff to focus on core responsibilities and.

Year Submitted: 2025
Published Date: 09 October 2025

Tags: Productivity, Time Saving, Care Process ＆ Redesign, Manhour Saving, Technology, Sensors, Operational Management, Inventory Management

About this Content

Aims

The aim of the project is to improve hospital efficiency, optimize asset utilization, and enhance overall productivity by implementing a passive real-time location system (RTLS) for asset tracking.

Background

The existing manual asset tracking system in hospitals is inefficient and time-consuming, diverting nurses' time from patient care to non-clinical administrative work. The project was implemented at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Yishun Community Hospital (YCH) to address these inefficiencies.

Methods

The project involved transitioning from manual barcode scanning to an automated Passive RTLS asset tracking system using RFID labels. This system was implemented across various hospital departments, with collaboration among stakeholders such as Nursing, Biomedical Engineering, Facility Management, and Finance.

Results

The implementation of Passive RTLS resulted in significant time savings, with nurses saving an average of 13,093 hours per year. The system improved asset visibility, reduced non-clinical workload, and enhanced operational efficiency.

Conclusion

The Passive RTLS system successfully improved asset tracking efficiency, allowing hospital staff to focus on core responsibilities and enhancing patient care.

Lessons Learnt

Challenges included complications with cabling works, coordination between multiple vendors, and knowledge gaps during project handover. Improved communication and early site surveys could have mitigated these issues.

Keywords

Asset Tracking, RFID, Automation, Efficiency, Healthcare

Innovators' Details

Healthcare Cluster(s)	National Healthcare Group
Organization(s) Involved	Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Yishun Community Hospital, Synapxe
Platform(s)	National Healthcare Group Quality Improvement
Healthcare Professional Group(s)	Healthcare Administration
Applicable Specialty or Discipline	Healthcare Administrators
Project Lead(s)	Lee Chun Chew
Project Member(s)	Tony Yang Shunxing Raymond Chew Lai Mun Deenadayalan Balaji Michael Bai Xue Feng P Senthilnathan Subramanian Ravikumar Yagaprakash S/O Arumugam Andy Tan Hoe Heng Shirley Yeo Poh Choo Lee Han Xiang Oh Teng Swee Cherie Koh Sin Teng Chen Yidan Alvin Kuo Kenny Lee Kok Leong

Connect with this contributor!

Mr. Lee Chun Chew - lee.jun@ktph.com.sg

Project Attachment

837_KTPH_NHIP_2025_Passive_Real_Time_Location_System_(RTLS)_for_asset_tracking.pdf