Enhancing Mortuary Practices in Rwanda’s Hospitals: Integrating IOT Technology and Mobile Applications

In Rwandan hospitals, mortuary management faces significant inefficiencies that make effective service delivery difficult. Among those Key challenges are manual body recording processes that lead to body misidentification, inadequate notification of unfavorable storage conditions to mortuary staff, and access to mortuary delays. These inefficiencies compromise the integrity, traceability, and timely management of deceased bodies. The study proposes an event-driven system integrating Internet of Things (IoT) technology and mobile applications to address these issues and enhance mortuary operations. The system automates key events in body handling and monitors critical parameters. IoT-enabled sensors are deployed to monitor temperature, humidity, door status, and air quality (for odor detection). Upon detecting anomalies, the system triggers real-time mobile notifications to authorized personnel, such as mortuary staff and biomedical engineers. A mobile-based platform ensures continuous monitoring and digital record management, while an event-driven architecture facilitates streamlined communication among all stakeholders, including bereaved families. The smart mortuary system demonstrated the ability to protect the body from deterioration through continuous environmental monitoring, minimize human error by digitizing body tracking and records, improve responsiveness through real-time notifications and alerts, enhance coordination among hospital staff and other related departments, and promote transparency and data availability in mortuary operations. The proposed IoT-based, event-driven mortuary management system modernizes hospital mortuary practices in Rwanda at the implementation phase by enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fostering transparent communication among stakeholders. Ultimately, the system provides a scalable, technology-driven solution for improving the dignity and management of deceased individuals in healthcare institutions.