Page 31 - Campus Security & Life Safety, May/June 2020

Blocking or eliminating the use of a doorway, which is necessary for wired solutions that require the installation of multiple different elements, could impede many critical functions. For example, patients might have their activity or sleep upset, both of which are necessary elements of recovery. A shorter installation time with wire- less locks means that work can be more easily scheduled at a conve- nient time for patients and doctors.
Protecting Both Data and Assets
Due to the nature of their work, healthcare centers collect and main- tain many types of sensitive data. In the event of a breach, patients’ sensitive information could be maliciously accessed via a weak point in the network. Endpoint devices that have access to the network should be cybersecure against breach vulnerabilities. When many systems are interconnected, having proper cybersecurity protocols among all devices is a necessary step to ensure that all systems on a hospital’s network are running smoothly.
Security providers have, for years, been finding new ways to utilize existing infrastructure, and one consistent area of overlap is among video systems, analytics, and business intelligence. Video analytics, when used alongside access control systems, can provide valuable insight into a variety of areas. Users in healthcare are using analytics to improve consumer experiences and help doctors, nurses, and other employees to more effectively provide excellent patient service.
For example, when integrated with access control systems, analyt- ics can provide insight into busier times of days, trends in patient needs, and more in an effort to better assist in scheduling during peak periods. In turn, hospitals can be sure they are staffed properly to
provide better patient support to improve patient outcomes.
Certain doorways, such as those housing high-risk patients, have trigger points that let administrators know of a variety of event types: door hold- ing, door forced, etc. Pairing this with video analytics provides the situa- tional awareness necessary to make an informed decision. For example, if a healthcare provider does not close a door after leaving a patient room, data gathered from access control and video analytics can alert administra-
tion to this incident, but simply closing the door will fix the issue.
On the other hand, if a patient is actively trying to escape their room, administrators can deploy on-site staff to de-escalate the situation. Keep- ing people safe and secure is the goal of access control, but doing so with the help of video analytics further contributes to increased insight into
patient and employee behaviors.
Solutions to Meet These Goals
The goal in access control within healthcare environments is very sim- ilar across all applications: keeping the wrong people out while letting the right people in. This is certainly true for the hospital environment.
Above and beyond other considerations, hospitals must be able to track and locate critical equipment or resources while also monitoring all the people entering secure areas and their reasons for doing so. These various elements of technology hinge upon one critical point: whether the door is physically locked or unlocked when it needs to be.
Healthcare facilities are focused on providing the best level of care for their patients, and that includes keeping them safe, securing their critical medications, and protecting their sensitive information.
Steve Connor is the senior product manager at Identiv.
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