Rom Eizenberg

Video, access control and visitor management are among the technologies that are enabling greater safety and security at hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Video surveillance systems enable hospital management and security professionals to know what goes on in and around a medical facility. Recording images in high resolutions (megapixels and gigapixels) is becoming more and more important in healthcare, says Jason Ouellette, Product Line Director – Access Control, Tyco Security Products. Video event management software Video analytics are now being leveraged for patient tracking, asset tracking, and operational purposes If an incident occurs in a medical facility, the security staff has to be able to identify faces easily and accurately. Storage and costs have to be considered, of course. With technology improving and prices decreasing, video solutions can even be used for purposes beyond traditional security. For example, video analytics are now being leveraged for patient tracking, asset tracking, and operational purposes, and captured video can be used to defend against liability claims. What’s next? Video analytics will continue to be a valuable addition to any surveillance infrastructure due to its ability to address patient needs, operational efficiencies and early risk detection, says Brandon Reich, Senior Director of Surveillance Solutions, Pivot3. Through video event management software (VEMS), hospitals can customise the statistics that are relevant to their individual buildings or campuses without having to spend extra time or money on rigorous employee training. Data capture form to appear here! Real-time access control security updates Furthermore, once healthcare facilities are able to digitise all of their patient records, secure any of their ingress and egress points with real-time access control security updates, and fully transition from analogue to IP video surveillance cameras, VEMS systems that house analytical software will be able to multiply the benefits offered to hospitals, not just in real time, but in planning ahead for future risk, expansion and safety protocols. It is vital to implement integrated and innovative access control solutions With large, complex facilities, directors of security at hospitals struggle with controlling access to various levels of the facility, according to Eric Widlitz of Vanderbilt Industries. To manage the risks that hospitals face and ensure a comprehensively protected atmosphere for patients and staff, it is vital to implement integrated and innovative access control solutions. For example, ease of access with controlled entrances is vital to medical crash teams, as is the need for a zonal access control lockdown in the event of a contagious disease outbreak. Strict access limitations Different hallways, rooms, floors and waiting areas within a hospital require different amounts of restriction, and sensitive materials, such as medical files, controlled substances and sterile environments (such as operating and procedure rooms) all necessitate an additional layer of protection. Access control in particular has advanced significantly to offer healthcare facilities the ability to control access remotely, through mobile applications, confirm identity quickly and easily and program varying levels of access for visitors, patients, doctors and staff. One area that is recently experiencing rapid growth – and drastic change – is the securing of narcotics within healthcare facilities, says Robert Laughlin, CEO and Chairman, Galaxy Control Systems. In the past, all medicine was controlled in a central pharmacy located somewhere in the hospital or health facility. These pharmacies were highly secured areas, with strict access limitations; only authorised staff could get near the medicine stocks. Fiber optic communication lines For vehicle access control, medical centers and hospitals prefer beam barricades and shallow foundation barriers To improve the speed of delivery, and to have the necessary medicines ready at hand for in-patients without retaining a large delivery staff, the current trend is to have distributed pharmaceutical closets or carts that hold medicines much closer to the intended patients. For vehicle access control, medical centers and hospitals prefer beam barricades and shallow foundation barriers, according to Gregg Hamm of Delta Scientific. Manual beam barricades are installed at the Fort Bragg Veterans Administration Hospital in North Carolina to shut down certain areas of the facility when a higher alert is sounded. They will stop a 15,000-pound vehicle traveling 50 mph. The Navy Hospital in San Diego uses high speed, high security and very shallow foundation barricades to control all vehicles going in and out of the facility. With their extremely shallow foundation, they obviate the concerns of interference with buried pipes, power lines and fiber optic communication lines. They will stop a 15,000-pound vehicle traveling 50 mph. At the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, even stronger shallow foundation barriers are used for traffic control and protection. These barriers will destroy a 65,000-pound (5.4 million foot-pounds) dump truck traveling 50 mph and continue to stand. Physical access control systems Controlling visitors to hospitals and healthcare facilities can directly impact security Controlling visitors to hospitals and healthcare facilities can directly impact security. Traditional methods of visitor management, such as paper visitor logs and handwritten badges are insufficient given today’s variety of security challenges. A hospital using paper-based systems cannot easily cross-check information, confirm patient information, check visitor names against up-to-date watch lists, or visually confirm identity. An increasingly popular and important application is secure and simplified visitor management, integrated with the physical access control systems (PACS). Today’s visitor management systems enable the screening, badging and tracking all visitors or, at a minimum, those visiting critical areas or during ‘after hours’ periods, Quickly identify inappropriate visitors One other growing technology is the ability to link to internal or governmental watch lists, to quickly identify inappropriate visitors before they gain access to the facilities. For example, Visitor Management systems can be configured to perform a Sex Offender search in both Children’s Hospitals and Pediatric areas, further decreasing the likelihood that someone of the list could gain access. Wayfinding is indoor navigation to guide a person step-by-step on the way to a desired destination HID Global and Phunware Inc. are addressing the need of healthcare institutions to deploy standardised technology to provide a better wayfinding and visitor engagement experience inside the hospital, across campus and even in parking lots. The companies are collaborating to improve the experience for hospital patients and visitors to find their way within medical facilities, using wayfinding on their mobile phones. Wayfinding is indoor navigation to guide a person step-by-step on the way to a desired destination. Enterprise-level mobile wayfinding “It’s easy for visitors and patients to get lost in hospitals, and every time they do it puts appointment times and patient satisfaction at risk,” says Rom Eizenberg, Vice President of Sales, Bluvision, part of HID Global “With our location-aware app on a mobile device, we equip the visitor to get instant, turn-by-turn navigation that creates a better experience than that which is currently available on the market.” HID’s healthcare IoT solution-enablement platform simplifies the delivery of real-time location of clinicians, patients and devices. The platform is enabled by Bluvision (part of HID Global). Phunware’s Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform also provides enterprise-level mobile wayfinding, engagement, data and more for other vertical markets, including retail, residential, hospitality, media and entertainment and more. Missed the rest our healthcare mini series? Read part one here and part two here.

HID Global, a provider of trusted identity solutions, and Mist Systems, a pioneer in self-learning wireless networks powered by artificial intelligence (AI), announces that the two companies are working together to converge Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based location services with Wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure for better deployment, management, and operations of IoT devices. With HID Location Services that is enabled by Bluvision, HID Global is an innovation in the IoT space as market pioneer in sensor beacons for workflow and event management. IoT asset tracking The Mist Learning WLAN is a single, converged cloud-based microservices platform for Wi-Fi and BLE indoor location services, eliminating the need for expensive overlay platforms and battery powered gateways for asset location and user engagement. The typical hospital today has over 20 different use cases for IoT tracking and management that can increase profitability" The combined solution provides a simple architecture for scalable IoT asset tracking and management that reduces costs, eliminates complexity, and fosters rapid adoption across organisational functions and use cases. “The typical hospital today has over 20 different use cases for IoT tracking and management that can increase profitability, patient care and overall patient experiences,” said Rom Eizenberg, Vice President of Sales at Bluvision, part of HID Global. Create seamless solutions “The introduction of AI-driven indoor location capabilities using standards-based BLE makes the deployment of these services scalable and cost effective, and reduces barriers to entry for many clinical scenarios previously locked out of benefiting from these state-of-the-art capabilities.” “By deploying Mist and HID Location Services together, enterprises have a proven solution to electronically touch and validate anything that moves, playing a strategic role in IoT environments,” said Bob Friday, Founder & CTO at Mist. “As we enter a new era of ubiquitous indoor location services, it is imperative that leading vendors come together to create seamless solutions for seamless and reliable BLE deployments.”

HID Global, globally renowned trusted identity solutions provider, and Phunware, Inc., a fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides products, solutions, data and services for brands worldwide, has announced their collaboration to improve the experience for hospital patients and visitors to find their way within medical facilities, using wayfinding on their mobile phones. Wayfinding is indoor navigation to guide a person step-by-step on the way to a desired destination.  Wayfinding and HID Location Services  Phunware and HID are addressing the need of healthcare institutions to deploy standardised technology “The combination of Phunware’s market-leading wayfinding and mobile engagement capabilities with innovative HID Location Services will ultimately revolutionise wayfinding within healthcare institutions,” said Phunware co-founder and CEO Alan S. Knitowski. “It’s easy for visitors and patients to get lost in hospitals, and every time they do it puts appointment times and patient satisfaction at risk. With our location-aware app on a mobile device, we equip the visitor to get instant, turn-by-turn navigation that creates a better experience than that which is currently available on the market.” Phunware and HID are addressing the need of healthcare institutions to deploy standardised technology to provide a better wayfinding and visitor engagement experience inside the hospital, across campus and even in parking lots.  Unified Healthcare IoT solutions Healthcare organisations can easily lay out the foundation for IoT applications, such as wayfinding" “Wayfinding is one more application that we are integrating into HID’s unified healthcare IoT solution to make it easier for healthcare systems to manage a growing demand for automated and streamlined experiences,” said Rom Eizenberg, Vice President of Sales, Bluvision, part of HID Global. “With HID technologies, we have changed the location-aware landscape, delivering location as a service. Now, healthcare organisations can easily lay out the foundation for IoT applications, such as wayfinding.” Healthcare IoT-enabled platform HID’s healthcare IoT solution-enablement platform simplifies the delivery of real-time location of clinicians, patients and devices. The platform is enabled by Bluvision (part of HID Global). Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform Phunware’s Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform also provides enterprise-level mobile wayfinding, engagement, data and more for other vertical markets, including retail, residential, hospitality, media and entertainment and more.