Today's Health Facility:
Creating an Environment of Trust and
Security Through Technology
 December, l998, The Orlando Sentinel. "Kissimmee, Florida. Detectives search for a link in several thefts of diagnostic medical equipment valued at $200,000 from three hospitals in Osceola and Orange Counties."
April, 1999, Channel 9's Jim Bradley of WSOC-TV Eyewitness News reports Rockingham, and other area hospital officials, collectively breathe a sigh of relief. A thief, who had broken his way through Richmond Memorial's outpatient surgery wing, stealing Morphine, Demerol, and other powerful drugs that would have been deadly on the streets, was caught after robbing two other nearby medical facilities. Although Richmond Memorial's drug supplies had been stored behind locked doors and cabinets, the thief broke through them all.
Is Richmond Memorial looking for new ways to improve security? Should you? Without a doubt, health care facilities have special security considerations. Drugs and narcotics, scopes used in surgical procedures, laptop computers - all relatively easy to move undetected during late-night security, are at risk. Other examples of special security needs include the Psychiatric wards where there is a need to control not only who gets in, but out as well. From expensive wheelchairs, visual equipment for lecture presentations, fibulators, to a cornucopia of high technology equipment, health care facilities have proven to be irresistible targets for theft.
Out with the Old - In with the New
Traditional security procedures, including the old lock and key, standard photo ID cards or punch code type numbers, didn't offer the kind of protection Richmond Memorial needed. In addition, relying on the lock and key method certainly doesn't take into consideration when someone leaves your employ. Time consuming and costly, would re-keying all doors, offices and cabinets be your only option? Even a magnetic stripe bar code card with photo ID offers security only as long as it is in the right hands. If it is stolen, someone else may be able to use it.
Today there is a more cost-effective and flexible alternative, unheard of not that many years ago. Rethink the traditional key and a variety of options emerge: biometrics, scan geometry, visual identification, retinal scan, proximity cards, bar codes, technologies that work on a per individual basis rather than on a generic basis where everybody has a key. Security has gone hi-tech with identification badges that offer flexibility, access controls that can be modified quickly if you need to hire or fire personnel, or simply change the function characteristic of a particular door or lock.
The most promising technology recently introduced is the "smart card" photo ID with a built-in computer chip. While the initial steps for producing these cards are the same as a plain photo ID card, (a photo is taken, the data is stored in a visual imaging computer system, a coding unit is applied and a card generated), with a "smart card," as the card is being generated, a computer personalization unit activates its visible gold chip.
Building access is just one security measure programmed onto the chip; with its built-in programmability, you have a platform with unlimited possibilities at your disposal. A "smart card" can have applications that provide added levels of control such as passwords or biometrics (a palm or fingerprint). Additionally, an expiration date is usually programmed into the chip for further security.
Flexible Imaging Systems
The photo ID card, PC-based or mainframe-based, enables quick changes using software alone, (as opposed to having to resort to expensive, time-consuming, complicated hardware changes). Add an imaging system, one that has the ability to interface with your access control system, and you have the ability to take a quick snapshot with a digital camera and instantly print it out on a variety of different types of PVC or laser or ink jet printers. Plus, the ability to snap a picture right on the spot means it doesn't need to go out of house to be produced, i.e., tighter security. If someone leaves and a new person takes their place, the old card can immediately be deleted and a new one printed on the spot. Or, if an employee is not going to be replaced, at the very least the old card can be inactivated. This type of system can interface seamlessly with your existing PCs and color printers, giving you full control of your security ID and imaging.
Selecting a Security Product/System
In order to make the best decision before embracing any new security product or system, there are many important issues to consider. For example, how large is the facility and how many employees are there? Determining what needs to be secured is another. Identification of all the entrances and exits as well as special, high security areas is also important. What about the need for an anti-pass back function (where there's a "reader" on the inside and on the outside so that you know who's in the building at any point)? Does the security system need to interface with other applications, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), alarm systems, monitoring systems, paging systems? Do you need a system that will be able to expand as your facility grows?
The point here is to do your homework. Take the time to talk to department heads and plan carefully before you begin to evaluate the various products and systems available. The key steps to security system selection are: Get started; tailor the system to your budget; involve the right decision-makers; define your needs; evaluate the available systems; plan for future expansion; and training users on operating the system.
The basic building blocks of your security system should include
- The most adaptable video imaging system you can find, one with an unlimited choice of badge designs and badge and bitmap logic so that it can be easily viewed and badges printed without special programming knowledge, and a digital camera for high photo quality.
- Software that allows you to create documents other than ID badges, such as employee directories complete with photos, dossiers, etc.
- The ability to communicate with other ODBC compliant databases to create a comprehensive security management network, and database fields with easy-to-use, drop-down menus to customize databases to suit your specific needs.
- The ability to store multiple photos allowing front and side views, even views for different hairstyles and a filter view so that you can designate a group of people within the database, without having to work with the entire database.
- A system that is compatible with leading Windows compatible printers and print capability that lets you print the front and back of ID cards with only one pass through the printer. An on-line help menu that is easy to use and answers questions immediately along with Windows compatibility so that it is easy for anyone to use.
- The ability to create a password in order to control access to any sector of the database you wish to protect, and an audit trail to identify database changes and person(s) who made them.
- Support ABA magnetic stripe encoding, allowing you to take information stored in the database and encode it directly on card's magnetic stripe.
Regardless of what product or security system you choose, check for Y2K compatibility, the flow from midnight, the 31st of 1999 through the year 2000 must be seamless.
New Heightened Security
Do you need the next generation, advanced "smart card" technology, with its built-in PC chip? This ability makes it a platform with unlimited possibilities, which, of course comes at a higher cost. Therefore, if a facility does not need more solutions than they are already getting from a bar code or mag stripe ID card, a switch might not be warranted. But the heightened protection and the growth potential provided by a "smart card" chip could well justify its expense.
Like the original personal computer, the introduction of the "smart card" with its programmable chip will have tremendous consequences. Today you might question exactly how to best use the "smart card," but in time you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.
Selecting a Vendor
Just as important as the bells and whistles of security systems, is the important of looking for a vendor with whom you can establish a sound working relationship build on trust and confidence. No only do you need to know your facility's needs and requirements will be met, but you also want to make sure your security vendor will be there when you have problems. Anybody can sell a system. What you're looking for is a partner, one who can offer support, maintenance, and the follow up activities that make an ongoing relationship work.
The Future of Security Technology
There is no question that security has gone hi-tech. As the health care industry expands, security will continue to be more and more of a problem. The next wave of products might be satellite communication, could be microwave, infrared technology, retinal scans. But the bottom line within the health care industry will continue to be one of providing healing, support, and security to staff and patients alike.
Despite the wide array of access control systems and competing technologies, there is a right way for facility managers to conduct the selection process. By involving the right decision- makers, exactly defining needs, evaluating systems, vendors and manufacturers, and performing the installation in a sensible manner, the right choice can be made every time.
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