BLE Asset Tracking: Guide to Optimizing Hospital Operations

Healthcare facilities face significant asset management challenges. The sheer volume and diversity of equipment make tracking complex and time-consuming. Lost, stolen, or underutilized assets, and unnecessary rentals, drive up costs and strain budgets. Beyond financial impact, inefficient asset management can disrupt workflows and compromise patient care.

That’s where Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) come in. RTLS provides continuous visibility into the location and status of critical assets, helping hospitals streamline operations and improve efficiency. One of the most practical ways to enable RTLS today is through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). BLE is a wireless technology that uses low-power signals to communicate location data, making it ideal for healthcare environments where cost, scalability, and ease of deployment matter.

CenTrak’s RTLS platform leverages BLE to deliver near-room-level accuracy without requiring extensive infrastructure changes. BLE tags placed on equipment transmit signals to BLE-enabled access points or CenTrak gateways, which feed location data into a cloud-based platform for real-time tracking. Hospitals can start with BLE for broad visibility and later layer in other technologies, like infrared or low-frequency, for areas that demand clinical-grade certainty. This flexible approach ensures facilities can optimize asset utilization, reduce waste, and keep essential equipment available when and where it’s needed, all while improving patient care.

How BLE Transforms Healthcare Asset Tracking and Operational Efficiency

Real-time asset tracking transforms healthcare operations by freeing up resources and enabling staff to focus on patient needs. BLE is a lower-cost and easy-to-deploy real-time location solution for addressing many traditional challenges.

Faster access to critical equipment in emergencies: Every second counts in a crisis. Real-time tracking minimizes the risks of misplaced resources and ensures tools are available at vital moments. Staff can instantly locate what they need, reducing search time so they can respond quickly in emergencies.
Easier inventory management: Combining BLE with infrared technology can enhance room-level asset locating, making it easier to manage inventory and determine when to restock items.
Reduced delays in patient treatment: Quick access minimizes wait times for critical and routine procedures. When staff don't need to hunt for resources, they can focus more on patient-level care, improving satisfaction.
Improved inventory management and preventive maintenance scheduling: Enhanced visibility empowers healthcare facilities to improve inventory management and proactively schedule maintenance. Analytics from tracking systems can inform strategic purchasing and maintenance decisions, saving money and reducing downtime.

How BLE Asset Tracking Works in Hospitals

BLE technology in healthcare enables real-time asset tracking by attaching tags to critical resources such as equipment and devices. This visibility improves efficiency, reduces search time, and enhances patient care. However, success depends on thoughtful tag form factors, a reliable location infrastructure, and user-friendly data visualization.

Smooth Integration into Hospital Infrastructure

In many cases, BLE requires little to no infrastructure. For example, location information from CenTrak's BLE asset tags integrate directly into a hospital's existing network of Wi-Fi/BLE access points, making it a cost-effective, easy-to-implement solution.

BLE Network Devices for Asset Tracking

Asset Tracking with BLE includes the following networking options:

Gateways: BLE gateways collect signals and transmit data to centralized servers or platforms.
Repeaters: BLE repeaters extend gateway coverage, allowing for enhanced location accuracy.
BLE-enabled access points: Current hospital Wi-Fi providers, such as Cisco, HPE Aruba, and Juniper Mist, offer BLE-enabled access points. These act as gateways, but hospitals can add gateways or repeaters if existing access points are not dense enough to prevent dead zones.

Asset Tag Form Factors

CenTrak offers several BLE form factors, including the BLE-Only Mini Asset Tag, the BLE-Only Rugged Asset Tag, and two more coming soon, the BLE-only Sticker tag and BLE Multi-Mode Asset Tag (BLE and Clinical-Grade network compatible). The BLE-Only Rugged Asset Tag is a reusable, compact, durable, and waterproof option for tracking any asset, such as wheelchairs or mobile medical equipment. The BLE-Only Mini Asset Tag is a small, lightweight tag that can track most equipment. It balances size and battery life for various assets.

Gateway Infrastructure

For customers without BLE-enabled infrastructure that CenTrak already integrates with, our PoE gateways provide a simple, scalable communication backhaul. These ceiling-mounted devices scan for BLE signals and aggregate data from tags, badges, and repeater infrastructure (when installed), transmitting it to the cloud and into CenTrak’s patented location engine. With coverage of roughly one gateway every 50–60 feet, they minimize the amount of infrastructure required while ensuring reliable data flow for our applications.

Data Management and Visualization

Hospital staff can access information on a central server or the cloud. Gateways send information to this platform for aggregation and processing. Teams can then view real-time locations on maps or dashboards and receive reports and analytics on asset usage. Other features often include notifications for low battery, unauthorized movement, and assets leaving designated zones. Facilities can integrate this information with other hospital systems for optimal workflow automation.

Applications for BLE Asset Tracking in Hospitals

A significant advantage of BLE asset tracking in healthcare asset tracking is the ability to monitor a wide range of equipment.

Hospital beds: Staff can quickly locate available beds and track their movement throughout the facility, supporting smoother patient admissions and timely discharges. Real-time visibility into bed location helps reduce delays, streamline workflows, and improve overall capacity management.
Wheelchairs and mobility aids: BLE tracking can prevent wheelchair loss or theft and ensure timely availability for mobility devices for patients who need them. Teams can also use BLE in combination with IR technology to enhance room-level asset locating and ensure each floor, location, or department reflects the appropriate number of available wheelchairs, also known as PAR-level management. With this technology combination, staff can receive notifications to restock when inventory runs low.
Diagnostic and therapeutic equipment: Losing supplies like infusion pumps, ECG machines, bladder scanners, and telepacks can be costly. Quickly locating this equipment ensures the timely delivery of urgent medical procedures, and usage data informs maintenance schedules and purchasing decisions.
Emergency equipment: With BLE-enabled asset tracking, staff can instantly locate critical resources, such as defibrillators and crash carts, without wasting time searching. This real-time visibility ensures lifesaving equipment is always within reach, improving response times, patient safety, and outcomes during emergencies.

Advantages of BLE for Asset Tracking With CenTrak

CenTrak offers asset tracking with BLE technology, making locating easier with robust reporting and rapid deployment. Here are some benefits of using BLE for asset tracking.

Patented BLE algorithms: CenTrak’s BLE-only and BLE Multi-Mode devices feature proprietary algorithms that enhance room-level accuracy, distinguish assets across floors, and deliver faster location updates, ensuring critical equipment is easy to find when needed.
Native access point integrations: Organizations that have already invested in BLE-enabled access points from vendors like Cisco and Aruba can easily use their existing infrastructure to quickly deploy a reliable asset locating solution without installing additional networking devices.
Cloud-based software and serverless deployments: CenTrak’s AssetRT platform is a secure, cloud-based application that provides real-time asset visibility through intuitive maps and dashboards. It delivers robust reporting to support compliance and operational goals, while automatic updates and upgrades simplify maintenance and system management.
Robust, scalable integrations: Seamlessly connect CenTrak’s Asset Management with your computerized maintenance management system and EHR. Our bidirectional CMMS integration streamlines preventive maintenance compliance and recall management.
Proven global expertise: While many new entrants are only beginning to explore asset location solutions, CenTrak brings nearly 20 years of proven RTLS innovation in healthcare. Thousands of hospitals and health systems worldwide trust our technology, making us a reliable, experienced partner in managing assets.

Embrace BLE Asset Tracking in Healthcare Facilities

BLE offers cost-effective deployment and optimized asset use. CenTrak enhances medical asset visibility with BLE technology. This solution empowers healthcare teams to reallocate thousands of hours to patient care while boosting financial performance and achieving operational efficiency. Discover how BLE can transform your operations by requesting a demo.