Latin America. The focus of our healthcare systems today reminds us once again that they are an absolutely vital service to our communities, which are always striving to provide the best care possible in complex and changing environments. However, in the midst of a global pandemic, they are also facing increasing challenges such as the saturation of emergency rooms, the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the limited number of beds in intensive care units (ICUs).
Although the year 2021 comes with a renewed sense of hope, hospitals will continue to experience budget constraints and high percentages of bed occupancy. On February 9 alone, the Government of Mexico City reported a 72.7% occupancy rate in ICU beds. Still, hospitals don't want to implement unproven technologies or deploy entirely new systems to help solve the ongoing challenges they face. Therefore, instead of waiting for totally new technologies to appear on the market, many centers are studying existing solutions and applying them in a novel way.
One sector that can offer hospitals a wide variety of innovative solutions is that of physical security. In the face of this global pandemic that requires maintaining physical distance and closely monitoring possible outbreaks, a security system that includes video management, access control and communications management can go beyond traditional physical security to become a strategic tool in the fight against the pandemic.
Virtual interactions with patients
In January 2021, according to the Ministry of Health, Mexico recorded the highest number of positive cases with 438,166 and was the deadliest month with 32,729 deaths. Something similar happened in March and April 2020, when New York City was facing the highest number of COVID cases in the United States. Hospitals were struggling and the situation seemed especially bleak. Staff felt vulnerable to the virus, frontline workers were resigning, and the hospital was spending PPE at an alarming rate. This was because, in order to prevent the spread of the virus from patient to patient, every time medical staff entered someone's room, they had to put on new PPE, which meant that doing simple checks on a plant could require several changes.
Hospital management knew it had to reduce in-person interactions between patients and staff. This would reduce the use of PPE and limit the possible transmission of the virus. The answer was to take advantage of the hospital's security platform, Genetec™ Security Center with its SIP module, Sipelia™, to manage intercoms with security cameras in patients' rooms, or intercom units mounted on serum trolleys. This allowed medical staff to speak directly to patients through the intercom unit and use live video to perform basic visual medical assessments without entering the room.
In this way, patients' needs could be determined by the first available nurse before sending someone in protective gear to decrease the risk of transmission and optimize the use of PPE.
Since the implementation of the solution, nearly 70% of interactions between nurses and COVID-19 patients are now virtual. Patients can initiate calls when they need assistance, and nurses can monitor about 16 patients from their workstation. The hospital is so satisfied with the results that, when they have time, management is talking to other hospitals to help them implement the same solution.
Although this solution was developed to respond to a specific need around the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, it can also be used in the future. The ability to communicate via two-way video will allow medical staff to accurately determine a patient's needs and quickly send someone to a room if needed.
Reduce the possibility of transmission
When it comes to mitigating the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19, being able to track the movements of people exposed to the virus can play an important role. A unified security platform, combined with a flexible reporting module, can help.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Genetec responded to a customer's request by developing a "Contagion/Contaminant Proximity Report" that can be generated if an employee or visitor tests positive. With a single click, an operator can see which doors that person has accessed. The activity report provides a list of all the people who passed through the same doors within a defined time window and links the associated video streams.
This type of forensic analysis can be extremely beneficial for organizations looking to use the technology they already have to better protect employees, visitors, and the community at large.
Medication management and protection against workplace violence
In addition to mitigating the spread of the virus, real-time location systems (RTLS) can also help hospitals keep track of medications and equipment. By placing RTLS sensors on hospital equipment and pharmacy carts, and using Bluetooth devices throughout the facility, the physical security system can triangulate the location of RTLS sensors and show exactly where the equipment and carts are on a graphical map.
On the other hand, it is a sad fact that security concerns related to violence are a persistent problem in medical facilities. One of the ways management can help the safety of staff and patients in hospitals is to ensure that staff have quick access to assistance when and where they need it.
By adding RTLS and coercion buttons to staff ID cards, hospitals can better protect their staff from violence by reducing response times. If a staff member feels unsafe or in danger, simply press the coercion button on their license plate. This sends an immediate notification to the security personnel who can respond quickly and appropriately to the alarm, knowing the exact location where the alert is generated thanks to the RTLS.
Maintaining PPE Supply
One of the surprising challenges hospitals face in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is the management of PPE. For this, hospitals can install an access control kiosk, which displays PPE items and medical supplies available in the closet. Thus, to access the PPE, it would be necessary to first pass the credential of the authorized personnel and then select the items. The system could also be configured to include video of the surroundings and correlate them with each request. The entire transaction would be linked to the authorized credential, meaning security personnel could review the event, including the associated video footage.
To further protect inventory, hospitals can also set up the system so staff can report any discrepancies. As staff select the equipment they need from the closet, the kiosk shows you exactly how many of those items are in the inventory. If the contents of the cabinet do not match the quantities that appear in the kiosk window, staff can click MISSING ITEM. The system will then send a notification to security, which will initiate an investigation and watch the video associated with the
previous transactions.
Checkpoints
To minimize the risks of outbreak in hospital entrance areas, checkpoints are often set up where questions are asked of employees and visitors to help determine their risk of contagion. But manual tracking slows down the process, disrupting activity, and like manual counting is very error-prone.
Therefore, health centers are looking for solutions that help automate the screening process of employees and visitors entering the facility. Using a decision support system such as Genetec™ Mission Control, hospitals and healthcare facilities can easily digitize the control questionnaire. The system guides staff through each step, identifying individuals who require additional examination. It also centralizes the data collected and automates notification to supervisors, leading to a faster process that minimizes operational disruption.
Conclusion
During the pandemic, many healthcare facilities are using their physical security systems and developing innovative solutions to better protect staff and patients. However, the impact of these solutions will be felt long after the current crisis has been brought under control, as they will also help the health sector solve the persistent problems related to hospital equipment, patient care and workplace violence.
* Article by Javier Jarillo, Business Development Manager for Industry and Hospitals Genetec Mexico.
Leave your comment