PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jordi Rovira-Simón
AU  - Marc Sales-i-Coll
AU  - Patricia Pozo-Rosich
AU  - Juan Antonio Hueto-Madrid
AU  - Raquel Cánovas Paradell
AU  - Anna Ochoa de Echagüen Aguilar
AU  - Marta Carbonell-Cobo
AU  - Rodolfo de Castro
AU  - Genevieve Shaw
TI  - Surgical block 4.0: a digital intervention based on a real-time location patient-flow solution to support the automation of surgical pathways
AID  - 10.7861/fhj.2022-0005
DP  - 2022 Jul 01
TA  - Future Healthcare Journal
PG  - 194--199
VI  - 9
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/9/2/194.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/9/2/194.full
SO  - Future Healthc J2022 Jul 01; 9
AB  - As internet of things (IoT) technologies are increasingly adopted by healthcare and hospitals, new opportunities are emerging to transform patient pathways and achieve efficient delivery of care. This implemented project follows the drivers and requirements of industry 4.0, based on surgical process analysis and optimisation using IoT technology, with the goal of creating ‘4.0 hospitals’.Our study presents the implementation of a novel IoT application, aiming to give support to multidisciplinary surgical teams through the optimisation of patient pathways to facilitate the surgical process. The implemented solution is based on real-time location systems (RTLS) technology, a subgroup within IoT, and it originated through the hospital needing to address the sudden surge of surgical elective care demand. The solution also enhances patient safety, facilitates quality of care by increasing communication and reduces costs. This IoT tool has facilitated the increase of theatre utilisation from 70.02% to 82.5% in 2 years, which has translated into an increase of surgical activity capacity, with an impact on reducing the waiting list.