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Enterprise Security Magazine | Tuesday, August 01, 2023
Biometrics will play a significant role in the future of healthcare visitor management.
FREMONT, CA: Healthcare facilities' visiting rules have loosened up during the previous two decades, except for the past few years. According to a study funded by the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS), "open," or "unrestricted" visitation is linked to improved outcomes, increased patient and family satisfaction with care, improved communication with healthcare providers, and decreased treatment anxiety.
The need for effective and efficient visitor management strategies has never been stronger, with people arriving and departing around the clock. All of whom must, for the time being, be checked for COVID-19 symptoms upon entry. Administrators must strike a balance between rules that prevent unauthorized and unfit people from entering secure areas, such as patient wards, and practices that make visitors feel welcome.
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The same IAHSS study found that one-third of examined facilities claimed to use electronic visitor management systems, and a further third planned to do so soon. Electronic systems relieve professional personnel of most of the responsibility of checking in visitors and keeping track of their status as they travel throughout the building. Visitors can only enter floors, wings, or wards where they have been given permission thanks to bar-coded badges that are read by access control readers spread throughout a facility.
How visitor management can improve the tourist experience and security
Electronic visitor management solutions strengthen security and facilitate credentialing, but they do not always improve the visitor experience. Upon entering the institution, visitors must still queue up at a security station where they must go through COVID screening, identify whose patient they are visiting, and show a security officer their photo ID. The officer does not provide a badge until their name has been verified against a list of forbidden visitors. Returning guests must go through the procedure again each time they enter the building because badges can be taken or shared.
Integrating biometrics with visitor management systems can enhance the tourist experience by automating identification verification. Users insert a scanner with their driver's license or other photo ID while an AI-powered face recognition camera matches them
to their image. Visitors proceed directly to a self-service kiosk rather than standing in line at a security counter. Similar computerized traveler screening procedures are used at international border crossings in this process.
Where to implement biometrics in healthcare settings
Certain departments are the place to start for healthcare facilities looking to test the waters before implementing biometrics on a larger scale. These include labor and delivery, psychiatry, detox, and memory impairment units, where security protocols are often geared to keep certain patients in and unauthorized visitors out. Biometric readers placed at department entrances and exits provide much tighter access control without infringing on visitors’ ability to come and go.
Biometric access control is a safe way to keep residents contained in facilities or departments where patients are involuntarily committed. Patients cannot take cards or badges that belong to someone else. Visitors who have registered with the biometric database are welcome. The biometric reader at the entrance keeps track of who enters and exits.
Security in healthcare using biometrics
The biometric modalities used in the examples mentioned above include fingerprints, palm veins, faces, and irises. The iris does, however, have some benefits in medical circumstances. The readers are touchless and can distinguish between persons wearing masks, which is now a concern for both patients and visitors. Additionally, iris registration can occur if utilized in conjunction with facial recognition technology, which can aid in matching visitors to their photo IDs.
The use of biometric identity solutions in healthcare is not new. They are frequently used at patient registration desks due to their efficiency, usability, and accuracy. The next frontier is visitor management and access control.
The technology will soon improve the visiting experience, allowing individuals to spend more time with their loved ones instead of standing in line at security.
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