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The Importance of Security Cameras in Hospitals

By Ernest Hamilton | Update Date: Dec 13, 2019 09:58 PM EST
The Importance of Security Cameras in Hospitals

(Photo : The Importance of Security Cameras in Hospitals)

The safety of patients and staff is just as vital as administering healthcare. Regardless of size or location, every hospital should prioritize security.

However, the constant influx of staff, patients and visitors makes tracking the entering and exiting of people a challenge. Security cameras are an excellent option to promote safety, and thanks to recent innovations in technology, embracing a surveillance system is now simpler than ever. Here are some reasons a hospital can benefit from modern security cameras.

Increased safety

Hospitals experience robberies and disagreements about perceived patient negligence. One of the most direct benefits of a hospital surveillance system is the increase in overall security and safety. Hybrid cloud solutions are what many industries are turning to discourage theft in hospitals. 

Unfortunately, hospital staff is particularly prone to being on the receiving end of violence. Doctors and nurses are at an increased risk of violent encounters because they deal intimately with suffering patients and emotional family members. In fact, workplace violence is such an issue for staff workers, that 54 percent in a Missouri hospital survey cited violence as among their top three job threats. 

Cloud-based security systems offer features to help hospital security identify perpetrators of theft and assault. Features such as high-resolution pictures of each person entering and exiting the facility and the ability to search and filter people by date, time, gender traits, facial features, and clothing helps security officers reduce investigation time. 

Small footprint and simplification

The complicated security systems of old are fading into the past. No longer can organizations blame security weaknesses on complex surveillance systems. Traditional video security systems relied on closed-circuit television, or CCTV - cameras and tape recorders to capture footage. Then systems progressed to using computers and IP cameras to store recordings, but these solutions quickly became obsolete due to storage and network limitations. 

Hybrid cloud structures introduce a way to demystify complex software and the installation process by storing footage on each camera and the cloud. Halifax Health, one of the largest healthcare providers in Volusia County, Florida, adopted the video surveillance solution Verkada to help meet compliance regulations and streamline monitoring across locations.

Solutions like Verkada issue automatic updates when the development team makes firmware changes, so an organization's security team doesn't have to worry about installing the latest system updates. With a simple implementation structure, hybrid cloud systems offer organizations of all sizes a chance to maximize their security easily. 

Hospitals also experience high volumes of people daily. Modern hybrid-security solutions are supported by robust processors and AI-technology that can help sort through a facility's sheer number of individuals moving around the premises. This allows security staff to analyze and identify their targets in an investigation with reduced time. This simplification process, along with offline capability, smooths out many of the hiccups of older legacy systems. 

Of course, a common downside to cloud-based systems is the dependency on a reliable internet connection. When the internet is down, the security team is unable to access video recording. So long as you have an offline mode, your staff can view live video streams even when internet connectivity is compromised. 

Safety and security should be a top priority for all healthcare facilities. After all, they're places people go to receive medical treatment and care. By taking advantage of and implementing a surveillance system that uses physical cameras and the cloud network, you take a proactive approach in increasing your organization's security for the wellbeing of visitors, staff and patients.

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* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of counselheal.com

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