With so many moving parts in a hospital, it can be easy to lose track of patients, rooms and assets. Problems like these can lead to customer dissatisfaction and an inefficient use of time and money on unused rooms.

Tagnos aims to solve these problems by increasing visibility from the moment patients walk through those hospital doors. Tagnos’s tracking technology enhances hospital workflow by tracking patients, managing rooms and finding equipment– all in real time. The company’s solution is already improving patient experience in several hospitals. Read our interview with Neeraj Bhavani, CEO of Tagnos, to learn more about this exciting startup.

What is Tagnos’s founding story? Is there any personal connection with wanting to improve the efficiency of healthcare facilities?

It was a combination of schooling and personal experiences. I have over 20 years of experience in healthcare informatics and an MBA from UCLA. The professors there said there was a huge asset tracking market in health care so I thought I’d tackle it. It wasn’t until we started working with customers that we decided to move into a patient-experience solution. We learned that there were a lot more ROI in tracking patients than hospital assets.

As for personal experiences, my father was in the hospital a few years ago. They moved him from a patient room to a procedure room. He was on the same floor but nobody knew where he was and it took almost two hours to locate him. As a family member, it leads to a lot of anxiety. With a tracking sensor, we could have avoided this.

How does your technology reduce patient wait time and improve patient flow?

By improving visibility and optimizing day-to-day work for hospital staff members we improve both patient wait time and patient flow. Often times, the staff prepares a room and a patient would cancel, leaving the room unused. We captured data that showed that our technology improved utilization by 18%-22% of the unused portion.

How did Tagnos start working with EvoNexus? How has working with them been?

It’s been a great experience working with EvoNexus. One advantage is being a part of an up and coming startup ecosystem for innovation in Orange County. Becoming a part of EvoNexus also allowed us to gain a lot of visibility, investor attention, free PR, and an introduction to health systems through mentors and other folks associated with EvoNexus.

Since Tagnos is based in Southern California, have you had a difficult time getting traction in Silicon Valley?

That’s a common problem with all startups in Southern California even though it’s only a one-hour flight to Silicon Valley. Although there is a significant improvement in Santa Barbara and San Diego, startups feel a bit cut off from the system. Cisco EIR is kind of like the bridge to the Valley for a company like Tagnos.

What are your goals while in Cisco EIR?

We hope to be engaged with the business units integrating Tagnos with Cisco products and approach the end market place and gain market validation. We would also like to see if there is a strategic investment from Cisco in the next couple of months.

What is your #1 advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs?

Get stuff done and don’t bother about investment money. Most entrepreneurs waste a lot of cycles trying to raise money out of thin air. Bootstrap that, get things started and the money will follow.

What do you do to unwind?

I try to go on long walks while listening to music. I do a 20 min walk and I’m good to work for 12 hours. I do a lot of yoga too.