Page 50 - Security Today, May/June 2025

H O S P I T A L S E C U R I T Y
compliance with the safeguards outlined in the HIPAA Security Rule.
W E A R A B L E C A M E R AS
One form of video—wearable cameras—is becoming a sought-
after emerging technology to act as a behavioral modifier or record
escalating behavior. These devices also are ideal for documenta-
tion in general.
The International Association for Healthcare Security and
Safety (IAHSS) Foundation offers a comprehensive overview of the
regulatory and legal considerations, titled “Body-Worn Cameras in
Healthcare.” This guide is like a decoder ring for a hospital looking
to implement a wearable technology.
Wearable cameras are typically used by security officers in a
hospital. But they are equally as effective for nurses in home-care
settings, because these professionals are completely on their own
and don’t have the benefit of an installed base of network cameras
around them the way a hospital has. Body-worn cameras work both
ways, because they create a culture of accountability for all parties.
The goal of video surveillance in general — wearables espe-
cially — is to create a culture of accountability and transparency. This
goal correlates with the American Nurses Association’s zero-tolerance
policy against workplace violence. Wearables have the ability to com-
plement de-escalation methods well due to the transparent nature
of the technology. Success of a wearables program in a healthcare
setting is embracing the balance of people, process and technology.
I N - R O O M C A M E R AS
One of the most interesting examples of technology aiding work-
flow optimization and surmounting staffing shortages is in the vir-
tual nursing space. One form of virtual nursing is remote patient
monitoring, also called “tele-sitting.” Another is for administrative
purposes, using distributed communication in a patient’s room.
With remote patient monitoring, trained staff in a central
location use clinical monitoring technology to observe patient
activity in live-view. Very rarely — almost never — is the video or
any associated audio recorded. A common example of this tech-
nology is monitoring patients who are deemed a fall risk. Another
is monitoring patients who have behavioral health issues, such as
those who exhibit a potential for self-harm.
Typically, in this scenario, there is a 12-to-one ratio of patients
to care technician. The setup involves one-way video and two-way
audio so the care technician can converse with patients to redirect
them back to their bed or chair if necessary; technicians also can
request bedside assistance.
Patient falls, which are the No. 1 cause of injury in a hospital,
are not only expensive but they significantly degrade the patient
experience when they happen. Some hospitals have reduced the
incidence of falls by 80 percent after implementing live-view moni-
toring technologies.
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As cameras became common in patient areas, clinical or-
ganizations expanded their use beyond remote patient monitor-
ing. One key application is streamlining admissions and discharge
processes, enabling healthcare teams — perhaps multiple nurses,
an anesthesiologist, and a surgeon — to communicate effectively.
This can enhance efficiency, save time, free up beds faster, and ac-
celerate the patient’s stay.
Specific technologies contribute to this process and make
it an immersive experience — for example, two-way video-based
workflows. Pan-tilt-zoom cameras allow clinicians to read wrist
bands and medication labels or monitor fluid drips. Typically,
cameras operate in full resolution at 30 frames per second, with
compression technology managing throughput.
Interoperable systems using the required privacy guardrails
is another tool for improving workflow efficiency. As an example,
the live video feed from a virtual nursing camera of a patient whose
behavior is escalating could be diverted to the security department
as an alert for possible de-escalation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is
one of the technologies being used — analytics can blur certain
features — in the trend towards interoperable systems.
A R T I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E
AI is already a critical tool of modern medicine, and now it is becoming
well-adopted at hospitals and often woven into the general workflow.
For example, GPTs and similar technology helps with auto-charting,
so healthcare professionals can spend less time writing and more
time caring for patients. It pulls data fields from the medical record
of a patient to partially populate a probable charting message.
In remote patient monitoring, AI is assisting care technicians
by alerting to behaviors such as a patient’s leg going over the side
of the bed or the lowering of a bed rail. Plotting a virtual box around
the bed sets up for an alert when that “patient envelope” is bro-
ken. Getting alerts in real time is the gold standard in AI workflow.
AI also can be used in a more traditional security sense, perhaps
generating an alarm based on a perceived behavior of an individual
such as lingering in a spot they shouldn’t be or speaking aggres-
sively. The technology can identify an individual who is registered
on a watch list, so security can address the situation proactively.
Workflow optimization doesn’t necessarily have to incorporate
an AI model. Improving efficiency could just as easily result from
using traditional technologies such as lighting, signage, duress
alarms, and two-way audio-video intercoms, as in a system installed
at hospital entry points to comply with Laura’s Law.
When adopting emerging technologies such as AI, audio,
and video to optimize workflows, healthcare organizations should
prioritize open architecture and non-proprietary solutions with
functional testing in their clinical environment. These enable in-
teroperability across a healthcare site’s domains of safety, patient
care, and operations, and offer high value to the organization.