Healthcare facilities must provide patients with adequate security to ensure they do not fall victim to a crime during treatment. However, while delivering patient security, healthcare facilities must consider accessibility for visitors and staff. So, does additional security come at the expense of accessibility in the healthcare industry? Keep reading as we discuss why accessibility and security are essential in the healthcare industry and the convenient tools that can increase security in the healthcare industry.
Increasing Visibility Using Cloud-Based Technologies
Increasing visibility is one of the best ways to increase security without causing inconvenience for daily building users. If your security staff can oversee building operations at all times, they will be able to monitor activity and prevent incidents from evolving. Cloud-based, hospital security camera systems are an ideal solution to help you ensure more oversight for daily building operations. With cloud-based surveillance, your security team can view your surveillance footage anywhere using mobile devices. All security data is hosted in the cloud, reducing the need for server storage, simplifying scalability, and making remote management possible.
On-premise systems require extensive wiring to ensure that devices connect to servers. However, you can implement and plan simple wiring infrastructure with a cloud-based system. Instead, all devices are connected using WiFi, BlueTooth, and cellular communication methods.
Video Analytics
Even if security staff can view security data from anywhere using their mobile devices, it does not necessarily follow that they won’t miss important security events. There could be too many cameras to observe at once, and your security staff will likely have various duties that render them too busy to monitor surveillance feed. You can implement video analytics software to ensure the building is secure and that security threats do not go unnoticed. Cloud-based surveillance tools come with open API integrations that allow you to apply software integrations.
Video analytics is a tool that automates monitoring surveillance footage to detect potential security risks. It uses AI object and behavior recognition to spot suspicious activity. When possible dangerous activity is detected, the system will trigger an alert. Your security staff will receive notifications on their mobile devices, allowing them to investigate the threat and plan a response. By implementing this tool, you can minimize the margin for human error in security surveillance, ensuring that every threat is investigated. Optimizing your surveillance processes is the best way to enhance medical facility security without costing convenience for daily building users, visitors, and patients.
Cloud-Based Access Control
Cloud-based access control facilitates one of the most convenient entry methods – mobile access credentials. Mobile access credentials make buildings more accessible, improve security management, and secure the property from intruders. With mobile-first access solutions, users gain digital access cards they store on their mobile devices. To use their access credentials and enter the building, staff members only wave their hand over the access control reader’s motion sensors. Once triggered, the access control reader will communicate with the user’s device to unlock the door using WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular communication.
Here are some of the benefits this entry method has for healthcare facilities security and convenience:
- Hygiene – the user does not need to touch anything when entering the building. This drives more hygiene-conscious building practices.
- Speed – the user can enter quickly, without rooting around to withdraw their device, speeding up traffic entering your building.
- First attempt entry – by using three communication methods to detect the user’s device, the access control reader ensures perfect entrance on the first attempt.
These benefits make cloud-based and mobile-first access control one of the best solutions to enhance security measures without causing inconvenience to daily building users.
Visitor Management Software
Like cloud-based video security, cloud-based access control offers open API integrations and the opportunity to implement software integrations. Visitor management is a significantly important security measure in the medical industry. You need to allow patient visitation while keeping stringent records of all the visitors accessing your property. Visitor management software automates the visitor management process using your access control system. When visitors need to register during visitation hours, they can fill out a digital form on their mobile device, allowing them to enter the building using temporary access credentials. To ensure accurate visitor records, the system will automatically log their time of entry and exit. Once the user has left the building, they will not be able to re-enter without registering again. The accuracy of your visitor records plays a vital role in evacuation and security investigation processes, ensuring you know precisely who is inside your building at all times.
Providing visitors with more autonomy in the visitor management process will reduce wait times and ensure that visitation is accessible, easy, and straightforward.
Summary
For medical facilities, additional security comes with the risk of slowing down traffic in your building and inconveniencing visitors. Luckily, cloud-based technologies are revolutionizing the security industry – providing reliable security without frustration. Consider adopting these technologies in your medical facility to provide more agile security operations and automate processes.​
