Hospital-Based Medical Device Tracking Platforms

A Brief Look at Medical Device Tracking Software

Medical device tracking platforms provide real-time visibility into the operational status, location, and utilization of connected hospital equipment. For OEMs, such systems offer a way to expand their portfolio with digital services, lower support overhead, and build stronger, longer-term relationships with hospital clients. Demand for these solutions continues to grow as providers look for smarter ways to manage increasingly complex device fleets.

Medical Device Tracking Market

The global market for hospital asset tracking and inventory management systems is projected to grow from $31.05 billion in 2025 to $40.58 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 5.5%. Key drivers behind this growth include hospitals’ increasing need for real-time visibility of medical equipment, rising costs associated with misplaced or underutilized devices, and the broader adoption of enabling technologies such as IoT.

This growing demand creates an opportunity for medical device manufacturers to enhance their offerings with digital services that help hospitals manage their expanding fleets more efficiently. Hospitals are under significant pressure due to rising labor costs and staff shortages, so they actively seek solutions that help reduce manual labor and equipment downtime. The expectations are shifting toward connected devices that not only perform reliably but also support real-time visibility and faster issue resolution. These trends make IoT-enabled medical inventory tracking platforms a timely and relevant addition to the broader medical device ecosystem.

High-Level Architecture of a Hospital-Facing Medical Device Tracking Platform

Below is a reference architecture developed by ScienceSoft for an OEM that wanted to ship a connected device management platform alongside its hospital equipment products. The architecture reflects the common needs and expectations of hospital systems and device manufacturers but can be adapted to fit specific product visions, hospital IT environments, and regulatory constraints.

Within each hospital network, protected by a firewall, medical devices connect to an on-premises edge gateway via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), RFID, GPS, or other supported protocols. Local technician applications interface with the gateway to allow on-site staff to register new devices, initiate syncs, or conduct diagnostics without requiring direct cloud access.

The gateway also aggregates device data (status, battery levels, connectivity metrics, etc.) and transmits it securely to the OEM’s cloud. The gateway can temporarily cache data if the internet connection is unavailable and perform basic preprocessing to reduce package size before transmission. The gateway-cloud communication is purposely limited:

• To maintain a secure network boundary, only the hospital-owned gateway can initiate communications with the device vendor’s cloud; the OEM only receives device status data or returns responses to the hospital’s queries. This means the hospital retains full control over access to its data, and security-conscious providers can use a “kill switch” if they want to fully shield their networks from external traffic.
• No PHI (such as patient IDs or recorded vitals) is shared with the OEM’s cloud, which reduces compliance risks under HIPAA and other data privacy regulations.

Multiple hospitals can be connected in the same way, allowing the platform to serve many client organizations within a single, multi-tenant deployment.

In the vendor-managed cloud layer, the platform ingests and processes both structured metadata and real-time device data from all connected hospitals. Real-time telemetry is routed through a broker component into the event processing module that detects issues related to low battery or connectivity. The system then notifies responsible users or systems. At the same time, high-volume batches pass through the streaming data processor. All data is then stored in the data lake and is made available to a data analytics layer that supports role-specific dashboards and reporting.

The API orchestration layer connects all components of the platform. It manages device provisioning and configuration workflows, routes data between internal modules, and serves as the main connection point for external systems (e.g., public key infrastructures, maintenance tools, or enterprise facility management software at the hospitals). This layer also interfaces with the device metadata catalog, which maintains the system of record for all managed devices: device types, models, serial numbers, assigned locations, and more.

Authorized users access the platform through dedicated interfaces where clinical staff can monitor device status and report issues, while admins can manage incidents and analyze performance data across assets. The platform can also include a separate interface for the OEM, enabling device manufacturers to monitor fleet performance across sites and support medical device lifecycle management (e.g., for post-market surveillance).

Why Develop Software for Tracking Medical Devices With ScienceSoft

• Since 2005 in medical software engineering.
• Since 2012 in IoT and cloud technologies.
• Mature quality management and security management systems backed by ISO 13485, ISO 9001, and ISO 27001 certifications.
• Proficiency in achieving and maintaining compliance with the requirements of IEC 62304, ISO 13485, 21 CFR Part 820, 21 CFR Part 11, and more.
• An official partner of Microsoft and AWS.
• 9 principal architects with 15–25+ years of experience each to balance the security, cost-efficiency, and longevity of IoMT architectures.

Development Costs of Medical Device Tracking Software

Based on ScienceSoft’s experience, the costs of building a medical device monitoring platform typically range from $350,000 to $750,000.