For years, Kerala has been held up as a model for public healthcare in India. But recent headlines tell a more worrying story:
- A CAG audit found 172 pieces of medical equipment worth ₹7.28 crore lying idle in 21 government hospitals, unused for periods ranging from 1 to 107 months.
- The State Human Rights Commission ordered an urgent probe into reports that 11 ventilators at SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram were non-functional, demanding a detailed report and corrective action.
- At Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute in Thiruvananthapuram, multiple neuro and peripheral interventional surgeries were postponed because critical devices and materials were unavailable, after contracts for surgical equipment were not renewed on time.
- Distributors of medical implants have halted or reduced supplies to Kerala government hospitals over ₹158–158.7 crore of unpaid dues, even threatening to withdraw existing stock, disrupting cardiology services across the state.
These stories are not just about finance or procurement. At the root, they are about something more basic:
Hospitals don’t have real-time, accurate control over their own assets.
That’s exactly where an RFID-based fixed asset management solution becomes a necessity, not a luxury, for hospitals in Kerala.
The Real Problem: Hospitals Are Flying Blind on Their Equipment
In many government and private hospitals, asset tracking still depends on:
- Excel sheets maintained by accounts or biomedical teams
- Paper registers in individual departments
- Informal updates when equipment is moved, repaired or condemned
Over time, this creates three critical gaps:
- No single source of truth
The “official” fixed asset list rarely matches what is physically present on the floor. - Problems surface only during crises
Idle machines, lapsed AMCs, missing accessories or unpaid suppliers show up when:- A surgery gets postponed
- Media reports highlight a ventilator or device crisis
- CAG or other agencies publish a report
- Clinical services are directly affected
When contracts lapse or devices are unavailable, surgeries are rescheduled, patients are diverted, and doctors and administrators take the blame.
In simple terms, hospitals are investing crores in medical equipment—but managing it with tools that were designed for small office inventories.
What Is an RFID Asset Management System?
An RFID asset management system gives every important asset a “smart identity” that can be seen and tracked in real time.
Core building blocks
- RFID Tags on Assets
- Passive UHF RFID tags (or on-metal tags) affixed to medical equipment, IT assets, trolleys, infusion pumps, wheelchairs, etc.
- RFID Readers
- Handheld readers to quickly scan entire wards, OTs or stores in seconds (no line-of-sight needed, unlike barcodes).
- Optional fixed readers at critical points such as stores, CSSD and biomedical workshops.
- Asset Management Software
One central system where each asset has a digital profile:- Make, model, serial number, purchase date and cost
- Current location and responsible department
- Warranty, AMC/CMC, supplier and contract details
- Preventive maintenance and calibration schedules
- Status: working / under maintenance / awaiting parts / condemned / idle
The result is a live dashboard that tells management what they own, where it is, and what needs attention—instead of waiting for surprises.
How RFID Could Have Changed Recent Kerala Incidents
1. Idle equipment worth ₹7.28 crore across 21 hospitals
The CAG’s performance audit on Kerala health services revealed that 172 pieces of medical equipment worth ₹7.28 crore were idling in 21 hospitals for 1–107 months, often due to lack of trained manpower, missing accessories or absence of a proper system to operate and repair them.
With RFID asset management:
- Every high-value device is tagged and registered with:
- Assigned department and exact location
- Required infrastructure (power, space, connectivity)
- Responsible owner (HOD / biomedical contact)
- Routine RFID sweeps generate reports such as:
- “Assets not detected in last 90 days”
- “Installed but never used since commissioning”
Management can then:
- Transfer idle equipment to hospitals or departments that can use them
- Escalate repairs or procure missing accessories
- Plan orientation/training for devices that staff are hesitant to use
Instead of discovering idle equipment through CAG reports years later, administrators see it in monthly dashboards and act early.
2. Ventilator complaints at SAT Hospital under human-rights scrutiny
Media reports about non-functioning ventilators at SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram led the State Human Rights Commission to launch an investigation, ordering a senior officer to inspect the ventilators in paediatric surgery and neonatal departments and to ensure repair or replacement if required.
Even when hospital authorities contest the extent of the problem, the reputational damage is immediate.
With RFID asset management:
- Each ventilator has a detailed digital record:
- Current status (working / under repair / in reserve)
- Location (ICU, NICU, PICU, OT, etc.)
- Last preventive maintenance and calibration dates
- Next due dates, with escalated alerts for delays
When a complaint arises, the hospital can respond with clear, time-stamped data instead of guesswork, and more importantly, proactively prevent such situations by never allowing maintenance to slip.
3. Surgeries postponed at Sree Chitra due to device shortages and contract lapses
At Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute, a shortage of essential interventional materials—including stents—forced the hospital to postpone multiple neuro and peripheral interventional surgeries, with some reports mentioning about ten surgeries rescheduled in a single day. The core issue: contracts for critical devices had not been renewed for nearly two years, and suppliers refused to continue under old rates.
With RFID-linked contract and consumable tracking:
- Each category of device/implant is linked to:
- A supplier and contract ID
- Contract start/end dates
- Usage trend data (monthly consumption)
- The system generates alerts:
- 90/60/30 days before contract expiry
- High-risk categories (cardiac and neuro implants, ICU consumables) are flagged as “no-gap contracts”, so expiry alerts are also sent to senior management.
Contract renewal becomes a planned process rather than an emergency response after surgeries have already been disrupted.
Real-World Implementations: From Gujarat to Kochi
While the problems above come from Kerala news, the same asset management challenges exist across India.
Your own experience already proves that RFID-based fixed asset management works in real hospital environments.
Bhailal Amin General Hospital (BAGH), Vadodara
At Bhailal Amin General Hospital in Vadodara, a 200+ bed multi-speciality hospital, the number of biomedical and IT assets spread across different blocks made manual tracking difficult. RFID-based asset management helped to:
- Build a single, reliable asset register covering all departments
- Reduce the time needed for annual physical verification
- Improve visibility over which equipment was in use, in repair or sitting idle
Even though BAGH is in Gujarat—not Kerala—it’s a good proof point to show how a busy tertiary-care hospital can bring structure to equipment management with RFID.
Aster Medcity, Kochi
Closer to your target market, Aster Medcity in Kochi is a large quaternary care facility with 800+ beds and multiple centres of excellence.
Implementing an RFID-driven asset management framework in such an environment typically focuses on:
- Tagging critical medical equipment and high-value devices across the campus
- Providing clinical engineering and operations teams with live dashboards showing:
- Where assets are
- Which ones are due for maintenance or calibration
- Which departments may be over- or under-utilising certain equipment
- Making annual audits and compliance checks (NABH, internal audits, JCI, etc.) faster and more transparent
When you mention BAGH and Aster Medcity in your blog or sales material, you’re not just dropping big names—you’re showing that this technology is already proven in complex Indian hospital settings, including right here in Kerala.
Why RFID Still Makes Sense in a Price-Conscious Market
Kerala’s healthcare ecosystem is extremely cost-sensitive. So any new system must justify itself clearly.
1. Passive RFID keeps the hardware affordable
- Uses passive UHF RFID tags, which are low-cost and don’t require batteries.
- A limited number of handheld readers can serve an entire hospital.
- Fixed readers can be introduced later at strategic points if needed.
2. Pilot first, then scale
A sensible rollout plan:
- Pilot in critical care areas (ICU, OT, Cath Lab) in one hospital.
- Prove quick wins:
- Faster audits
- Reduced “missing” assets
- Better AMC/maintenance compliance
- Use these results to justify expanding to:
- The rest of the hospital
- Other hospitals in the network
3. Frame ROI in rupees, not just features
For example:
- A mid-size hospital network may have ₹30 crore worth of equipment.
- If just 5% of that becomes idle, lost or severely under-utilised, that’s ₹1.5 crore at risk.
- Add the cost of:
- Overtime and manpower for manual audits
- Emergency purchases at premium prices
- Surgeries postponed and beds under-utilised
If an RFID asset management system prevents even a portion of this loss, the payback window is often in the range of 12–24 months—after which the savings keep compounding.
Beyond Money: Compliance, Trust and Reputation
For Kerala hospitals, the stakes go beyond cost savings:
- CAG is already flagging idle assets and poor utilisation.
- Human-rights bodies are stepping in when ventilator availability is questioned.
- Media coverage around postponed surgeries and device shortages quickly erodes public trust.
An RFID-based asset management system gives hospitals:
- Audit-ready documentation for equipment, maintenance and calibration
- Transparency for regulators, courts and accreditation bodies
- Confidence for clinicians, knowing their essential machines are monitored and maintained
It’s not just a technology project—it’s a governance and reputation-protection tool.
Conclusion: From Fire-Fighting to Proactive Control
Kerala has some of India’s best hospitals and clinicians. But the recent crisis stories—idle equipment, ventilator probes, postponed surgeries, and halted supplies—show that clinical excellence alone is not enough.
Hospitals also need real-time control over their equipment and contracts.
RFID-based fixed asset management provides that control in a way that is:
- Technically robust
- Financially justifiable for a price-conscious market
- Already proven in Indian hospitals—from Bhailal Amin General Hospital to Aster Medcity
For decision-makers in Kerala, the real question is no longer:
“Can we afford to invest in RFID asset management?”
It’s:
“Can we afford another year of idle assets, disrupted surgeries and negative headlines?”
Ready to Transform How Your Hospital Manages Assets?
Join forward-thinking hospitals in Kerala and across India who are using RFID-based fixed asset management to reduce idle equipment, prevent maintenance lapses, and gain real-time visibility on every critical device.
Learn More About RFID Asset Management
