In hospitals and clinics around the world, real-time asset tracking has already proven its value. From locating infusion pumps in seconds to ensuring wheelchairs are readily available and defibrillators are always within reach, healthcare providers increasingly rely on healthcare asset tracking to streamline operations, reduce waste, and most importantly, safeguard patient lives. And with good reason, one study revealed that nurses spend an average of 12% of their shifts searching for equipment (Bennafield et al, 2023). Those lost minutes create inefficiencies, elevate stress, and in urgent situations, can be the difference between a good outcome and a tragedy.
The cost of misplaced or underutilized assets extends far beyond lost time. Hospitals face significant economic losses from equipment downtime, additional purchases to compensate for missing items, and compliance risks if safety-critical devices can’t be located or verified when needed. The stakes are high, and the operational pressure is only increasing.
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Transforming Asset Utilization in the Healthcare Industry
IoT technology offers a compelling answer to these challenges. Studies have shown that IoT-based monitoring of ICU equipment reduces the need for manual documentation and optimizes management (Babu & Bhoomadevi, 2022). Other research confirms that IoT-enabled asset tracking improves utilization, enhances patient care, and strengthens financial performance (Saritha et al. 2024). But there’s an opportunity to go even further, to make tracking a standard capability in every new piece of medical equipment, right from the start.
From Retrofit to Day-One Tracking
Currently, most hospital asset tracking systems involve attaching tags or sensors to equipment after it has been purchased, a proven and flexible approach that Traxmate fully supports. Retrofit solutions allow virtually any piece of existing equipment to be brought into the tracking network, making them essential for modern hospitals with large inventories of legacy devices. Trackers and sensors remain an excellent solution for older equipment, and will continue to be a cornerstone of hospital asset tracking strategies for years to come.
But when it comes to new medical equipment, there’s a smarter path forward: designing a SIM directly into the device at the manufacturing stage. Read more here about our platform-independent SIM tracking solution for network operators. If integrated into medical equipment this means that every device, whether it’s a portable scanner, an infusion pump, or a mobile monitor, is tracking-ready from the moment it’s unboxed. There’s no additional hardware to attach, no separate mounting, no battery management for a tag, and no waiting for deployment. Tracking starts immediately.
This approach creates a future where every new medical device arrives with location intelligence built in, enabling hospitals to achieve full visibility from day one, and expand their tracking coverage over time without additional installation projects.
Why Built-In SIM Tracking Changes the Game
While retrofit solutions are vital for existing fleets, embedding a SIM at the manufacturing stage offers multiple advantages that can transform asset tracking in healthcare:
- Immediate visibility – Equipment enters service already connected to the tracking platform.
- Lower lifetime costs – No extra components to purchase, install, or maintain.
- Simplified logistics – No pairing or configuration steps for staff to manage.
- Smarter workflows – Location data can be leveraged for inventory control, usage analysis, and compliance checks.
The Technology Poised to Make it Possible
In the near future, SIM-based connectivity could make it possible for every piece of medical equipment to be tracked from the moment it enters service, no GPS module required. Traxmate’s vision for this capability builds on technology that leverages Cell ID data directly from mobile networks. When a SIM-enabled device connects to a cell tower, the network instantly identifies which tower it is communicating with. By integrating this information with the Combain Cell ID service, the device’s location can be calculated in real time.
Cell ID tracking offers distinct advantages for healthcare environments. It works both indoors and outdoors without requiring GPS visibility, delivers excellent battery performance thanks to its low-power demands, and operates reliably even in challenging conditions. This makes it ideal for always-on tracking in medical devices that must function across multiple floors and wards.
Without the need for GPS hardware, devices can be produced at lower cost, run on less power, and remain compatible with a wide range of designs and use cases. The positioning process is seamless: location data flows from the mobile network or IoT platform to Traxmate’s cloud service, where it can be visualized, analyzed, and integrated into hospital systems.
In practice, this means that, in the future, built-in SIM tracking could support both live and historical visibility of any asset, enabling advanced workflows such as usage reporting, geofencing alerts when devices move beyond designated areas, and automated inventory updates. All of this could be managed through a web-based dashboard or mobile app, giving hospitals, and med-tech manufacturers, instant oversight of their equipment fleets.
As mobile networks continue to advance, this kind of integrated SIM tracking could become a baseline feature for medical devices, making real-time visibility built-in from the start the new standard in healthcare asset tracking.
Meeting Evolving Hospital Demands
Hospitals are facing mounting operational and regulatory pressures, making the need for reliable, real-time asset tracking more urgent than ever. Efficient utilization of high-value, mobile medical equipment is essential for improving operations and reducing costs (Pongthavornkamel et al. 2025). In the U.S., for example, the Joint Commission, the nation’s leading hospital accreditor, is raising its expectations for asset inventory management and the functional readiness of all life-support equipment. The ability to locate, verify, and report on device status in real time is quickly becoming a baseline requirement.
This growing demand for efficiency is also placing higher expectations on med-tech providers. However, it is not only hospitals that would benefit from built-in tracking. In fact, a 2025 McKinsey report notes that med-tech companies typically hold three times more inventory than companies in other sectors, a clear sign of the untapped value in enabling immediate asset tracking from the manufacturing stage. By adopting integrated tracking solutions, med-tech companies can unlock these efficiencies while meeting hospitals’ increasing expectations for real-time location intelligence, making healthcare asset tracking a critical requirement in modern clinical environments.
Interoperability, Compliance, and the RTLS Advantage
As Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) become increasingly central to hospital operations (Overmann et al. 2021), the value of integrating tracking capabilities directly into medical devices continues to grow. By embedding location intelligence at the design stage, hospitals can avoid reliance on external tags that require manual attachment, maintenance, and monitoring. This built-in approach simplifies deployment, reduces overhead, and ensures seamless participation in hospital-wide RTLS strategies.
Interoperability is also becoming critical. With HL7 and its’ FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard emerging as the backbone of healthcare data exchange (UHIN, 2024), devices must be capable of providing structured, interoperable information. Platforms like Traxmate bridge this gap, delivering live location data that can be mapped directly into hospital systems and FHIR-based workflows (HL7, 2025).
Regulatory expectations are rising as well. While the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR 2017/745) does not specifically mandate tracking, it significantly raises requirements for traceability, post-market surveillance, and lifecycle documentation. Integrated tracking allows med-tech companies to meet these demands with greater efficiency and responsiveness.
Voluntary global standards like ISO 55001 and ISO 13485 further reinforce these priorities. ISO 55001 promotes lifecycle visibility and proactive maintenance, while ISO 13485 emphasizes traceability and quality management across the entire product life. Real-time location intelligence supports both, enabling compliance, reducing risk, and increasing operational transparency.
A Strategic Opportunity for MedTech Manufacturers
Designing equipment with SIM-based tracking from the start isn’t just about technology, it’s about market leadership. Manufacturers who embrace this approach can offer hospitals:
- Full asset tracking capability from day one, without added setup costs.
- Lower total cost of ownership by eliminating extra installation steps and reducing maintenance.
- Future-ready devices that integrate into smart hospital environments.
- New value propositions such as analytics services, usage-based maintenance, and enhanced compliance reporting.
And with Traxmate, manufacturers can do this while still supporting retrofit solutions, ensuring a smooth transition for hospitals and maximizing the value of both new and existing equipment.
Healthcare asset tracking is reshaping the industry. Med-tech innovators who build it in from day one gain a decisive edge.
Let’s Build the Future of Healthcare Asset Tracking
The shift from retrofit-only to a combination of built-in SIM tracking for new devices and retrofit solutions for existing assets is the next step in healthcare efficiency. The technology is ready. The operational benefits are undeniable. And hospitals are eager for healthcare asset tracking solutions that save time, reduce waste, and improve patient care.
At Traxmate, we’re ready to make this future a reality, helping medtech manufacturers embed tracking from the design stage, and helping hospitals integrate both built-in and retrofit devices into a single, unified platform.
Let’s make every device trackable from day one — and every hospital more efficient, compliant, and ready to deliver the best care possible with healthcare asset tracking.