Current Location
The Current Location feature is used by healthcare staff to track the exact bed or location a patient is currently occupying. This feature is essential for managing patient flow, ensuring accurate patient tracking, and optimizing bed utilization. It is used whenever there is a need to know a patient's precise location within the healthcare facility.
Where you can find this feature: Admin Tool, Admin > Settings > Capacity Management component.
How Current Location Works
Functionality
The Current Location column displays the bed or location a patient is currently associated with. This can be a specialty bed, home bed, or any other designated location. The display can show the bed's IVR ID code, abbreviation, or name, depending on the settings in the Admin Tool or Capacity Management component. Hovering over the identifier reveals additional details.
The Current Location column is particularly useful in list views when patients have pending actions involving multiple locations. Examples include:
A patient assigned to Location A with a pending transport to Specialty Location B.
A patient admitted to a bed, then transported to another location, and finally assigned to a different bed.
When Capacity IQ® and Location IQ® are integrated, the Current Location can be determined by the patient's badge, which interacts with hospital hardware to track the patient's movements. If the badge is missing or in an undetectable area, the location appears in italics. For organizations using Centrak® hardware, hovering over the cell shows the last detected beacon.
If the current location is on a floor plan and not mapped to a Capacity IQ® location, the floor plan name appears. Clicking the Current Location column displays the floor plan.
The current location will not show the patient's Location IQ® location if:
The patient is in a Location IQ® location not mapped to a Capacity IQ® location.
An ADT message has set the location, but the patient has not arrived yet.
The badge or beacon has failed.
Additional settings affecting the Current Location include:
Duration to Detect Patient Movement: Updates the patient's location after being detected for a specified duration.
Require Bed Assignment for Occupancy: Marks a bed as occupied only if previously assigned to the patient.
RTLS Admission Occupancy Trigger: Automatically admits a patient detected in a home bed for a specified duration.
RTLS Transfer Occupancy Trigger: Updates bed status for transferred patients detected in a new location.
Completed Transport Job Causes Patient to Occupy Destination: Marks a location as occupied upon transport job completion.
Allow RTLS Transfer to Admit/Discharge Holding Location: Automatically occupies admit/discharge holding locations for badged patients.
Workflows
Configuring Current Location Source
About Current Location Source
If Capacity IQ® is integrated with Location IQ®, you can set the source of a patient's current location for each campus.
Which Current Location Source Should You Choose?
Capacity IQ®: Determines location through Capacity IQ® actions (e.g., transport jobs, bed placements).
Location IQ®: Determines location through Location IQ® actions (e.g., badge detection).
To Configure the Patient Current Location Source
Go to Admin Tool > Enterprise Management > Enterprise Information or Admin > Settings > Capacity Management > Enterprise Management > Enterprise Information.
On the Enterprise Information tab, click the campus.
Click the Global Settings tab, then RTLS to display the RTLS Global Settings page.
In the Source of Patient Current Location list, select either Capacity IQ® or RTLS.
Click Save.
Displaying Current Location in Patient Tracking Portal Bed Column
About
You can display the patient's current location under the home location in the Bed column for easier visibility.
Permissions and Membership Required
Admin Tool Menu permission
Enterprise Wide Settings permission
Edit rights for changes, View rights for viewing
Membership Type "All" with administrative rights or "Fixed" with campus-level administrative rights
To Display Patients' Current Locations Under the Home Location in the Bed Column
Go to Admin Tool > Enterprise Management > Enterprise Wide Settings or Admin > Settings > Capacity Management > Enterprise Management > Enterprise Wide Settings.
Click the Enterprise Wide Settings tab, then the Patient Tracking Portal link.
Under List View Settings, enable Include Current Location in Bed Column.
Click Save.