As you know, iBeacons are small, low-cost devices that use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to transmit signals to nearby devices such as smartphones or tablets or BLE gateways. Hospitals have been expanding various use cases for iBeacons, including:

• Patient Navigation: Hospitals can use iBeacons to help patients navigate the hospital, providing them with turn-by-turn directions to their appointment location, the nearest restroom, or cafeteria. Patients can download the hospital’s app on their smartphones and enable Bluetooth to receive push notifications and personalized directions.
• Asset Tracking: Hospitals can use iBeacons to track equipment, such as medical devices, wheelchairs, or stretchers, that move around the hospital. By attaching iBeacons to these items, hospital staff can track their location in real-time and reduce the time spent searching for them.
• Patient Monitoring: Hospitals can use iBeacons to monitor patients who are at risk of wandering, such as those with dementia or Alzheimer’s. By placing iBeacons around the hospital, staff can be alerted when a patient leaves a designated area or enters a restricted zone.
• Wait Times: Hospitals can use iBeacons to track patients’ wait times in various areas, including emergency rooms, labs, or clinics. Patients can view real-time wait times on their smartphones, reducing anxiety and frustration while waiting.
• Proximity Marketing: Hospitals can use iBeacons to send targeted messages and promotions to patients and visitors, such as discounts at the hospital gift shop or notifications about upcoming health events. The patients and visitors need to have the hospital’s app downloaded onto their phone to receive such notifications, and they are also given an option to opt out of these notifications at any time.

Overall, iBeacons offer hospitals an opportunity to improve patient experience, streamline operations, and enhance security.