In an era where technological advancements intertwine with healthcare, Raphael Hospital in Tel Aviv stands at the forefront of combining state-of-the-art medical care with cutting-edge security measures.
Opened recently, this private hospital is among Israel's most advanced medical institutions, attracting over 50,000 medical tourists each year according to the Ministry of Health. Such a standing demands robust systems to ensure both patient care and security.
Advanced medical systems
Designed with insights from global experts, Raphael Hospital prioritises advanced technology alongside premium medical care. It is staffed by senior doctors with extensive expertise across various specialisations.
The hospital’s infrastructure even includes tiles with an integrated antibacterial shield providing constant protection against bacteria. This focus on innovation extends to ensuring patients’ psychological and physical well-being, with facilities designed to offer a luxury-hotel-like experience, while also ensuring optimum medical care and safety.
Security challenges in healthcare
Recognising the need for stringent security in the highly sensitive areas of a hospital
The nature of hospitals makes them soft targets, a potential risk due to their large, often crowded spaces with multiple access points. Thus, enhancing security is a critical component of hospital management.
Raphael Hospital addresses these vulnerabilities by integrating sophisticated medical and surgical technologies, such as the Mako robotic arm-assisted system and the Da Vinci robotic surgical system, for efficient and safe surgical procedures.
Touch-free and secure environments
Recognising the need for stringent security in the highly sensitive areas of a hospital, especially where complex surgeries are carried out, Raphael Hospital implemented advanced control systems from inception.
The importance of touch-free environments was magnified by COVID-19, necessitating technology that allows minimal contact and maximised hygiene. Raphael Cohen, Operating Room Manager, notes the importance of building a "most updated hospital" with these protocols.
Facial recognition technology
Security at Raphael Hospital is further enhanced through the integration of facial recognition-based technology. This development not only secures patients and valuable hospital assets but also contributes significantly to infection control by limiting contact with surfaces. Oosto's OnAccess solution enables seamless access for staff, enhancing the sense of belonging for employees recognised by the system. According to Cohen, the technology ensures that access to sensitive areas is restricted to authorised personnel, thereby maintaining the integrity of the hospital’s sanitary protocols.
The adoption of facial recognition systems redefines efficiency for hospital operations. By providing frictionless access, these systems minimise contamination risks and unauthorised entry, reinforcing the hospital's reputation for cutting-edge healthcare. At Raphael Hospital, Oosto's technology exemplifies a commitment to innovation in both patient care and security.
Israel offers one of the most advanced medical systems in the world where cutting-edge treatments and patient care are provided by some of the best medical professionals using high-tech equipment in modern facilities. As such, medical tourism is growing exponentially in Israel. The country’s Ministry of Health shows that more than 50,000 medical tourists travel to Israel for treatments every year and consistently ranks in the Top Ten in the globe for health tourist destinations.
Raphael Hospital is Israel’s newest and most advanced hospital. It is a state-of-the-art private hospital recently opened in Tel Aviv.
Advanced medical systems
A team of experts, drawing from best practices around the globe, designed Raphael Hospital to be technologically advanced and to provide a premium standard of care and services. It is staffed by senior doctors who are some of the most experienced in their respective specialties. Everything about its construction, for example, was thoughtfully planned for — even the types of tiles used on the hospital flooring: they come with “an integrated antibacterial shield that is 99.9% effective against bacteria, 24 hours a day, in all light conditions.”
Special emphasis is placed on a patient’s overall wellbeing, mentally and physically, and thus the physical space is designed to appeal to patients from both an aesthetic sense (to promote an inviting, welcoming feel much like a luxury hotel), and a high-tech approach, in order to maintain maximum patient safety, efficiency, and the finest level of medical care.
Physical security risks
Hospitals are among the most essential and vulnerable spaces worldwide. In terms of security, hospitals are often considered “soft targets” — along with shopping malls, schools, and sports arenas — because they are high-density locations with large, vulnerable crowds. Soft targets have many access points, increasing certain physical security risks. Security professionals are thus tasked with “hardening” hospitals as part of a holistic security protocol.
Raphael Hospital’s operating rooms are some of the most technologically advanced in the world; they are specially equipped with advanced medical technologies for surgeries including the Mako robotic arm-assisted technology for joint surgery and the Da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Touch-free environments
Such advanced technologies, and the people operating them, require an extra level of security in order to protect the most sensitive areas of the hospital where delicate surgeries are performed. Moreover, even before the pandemic, maintaining sterilisation in operating rooms was challenging. COVID-19 only heightened the need for touch-free environments to help limit the spread of germs.
The hospital’s advanced access control and video monitoring technologies were incorporated from the very start of its operations, using the hospital’s existing CCTV cameras. According to Raphael Cohen, Operating Room Manager for Raphael Hospital, “We had a lot of challenges. We wanted to build the most updated hospital.”
Facial recognition based technology
Raphael Hospital wanted to incorporate facial recognition based technology for a few reasons, including protecting people, patients, and physical assets. Face-based access control plays an essential role in infection control protocols while keeping highly sensitive areas of the hospital, such as operating rooms, restricted to authorised personnel at all times. Hands-free and automated access allows hospital staff to not be required to touch any buttons to open doors while reducing contamination as much as possible and defining exactly which staff could travel within specific areas of the hospital.
"Oosto’s OnAccess solution gives the staff, doctors, and nurses a sense of belonging in the hospital…they’re an essential part of the hospital, and when the hospital recognises them, and the doors open - it’s effortless for them to get about," said Raphael Cohen, Operating Room Manager, Raphael Hospital.
Facial recognition technology
Now, with Oosto’s facial recognition technology, surgeons and support staff can benefit from gaining frictionless access to the most sensitive areas of the hospital without having to touch any surfaces.
Contamination is avoided, patients and staff are kept safe from unauthorised access to restricted areas of the hospital, and the frictionless, face-based access control in the hospital contributes to the overall perception of Raphael Hospital as a world-pioneer and cutting-edge healthcare provider.
