Pediatrician attends to a male patient

Successful Strategies

Children's hospital enhances security in commitment to excellence

As South Florida's only licensed specialty pediatric hospital and Florida's only freestanding pediatric trauma center, Miami Children's Hospital serves a special purpose. In addition to world-class healthcare, the hospital is dedicated to providing the highest level of security so families can concentrate on what's most important—leaving with happy and healthy children.

Curing Operational Inefficiencies

Despite providing excellent healthcare, the hospital was in need of centralization. Disparate systems led to operational inefficiencies. For example, each of the 11 departments had its own individual call takers and dispatches. And after completing a voluntary Department of Homeland Security assessment, the hospital decided to implement DHS recommendations by enhancing security through centralization.

The hospital chose to install Johnson Controls' P2000 security management system, an access control solution.

"The hospital conducted interviews and analysis of several candidates and ultimately selected Johnson Controls as the best fit for their needs," said Richard Seferian, account executive of major projects for Johnson Controls. "Johnson Controls was able to demonstrate their ability to consult and use their vast technical abilities to bring solutions and drive the end result to achieve the hospital's vision."

The P2000 is a security management system designed for mission-critical access control environments. With an enhanced graphical user interface, system operators can easily access an interactive, realtime facility map, with dynamic icons, to monitor and control major facility systems and functions.

"The P2000 was chosen primarily for its ability to connect to the CCTV security cameras, fire alarm and building management system," Seferian said. "The technology behind the solution was the use of IP-enabled systems and serial communication for the legacy equipment."

Features such as threat level support allow operators to adjust security functions based on threat level parameters. In the event of an elevated security threat, reader acceptance levels can be changed from card only to card plus PIN or card plus PIN plus biometrics, and CCTV cameras and guard tours can be modified to refl ect heightened security requirements.

As security needs change, the P2000 can easily help administrators add badges, readers and workstations.

Another hospital security enhancement included the addition of Johnson Control's DVN 500 system, along with Matrix System IP-based cameras, which allows security to view, analyze and archive video from programmed intrusion points.

The DVN is a hybrid surveillance system that allows users to record images from both analog CCTV and IP-based cameras. It provides quick access to all video from the command center to Web browsers, as well as PDAs. The DVN also can monitor camera images through advanced video analytics, which can be configured to detect simple or complex motion and alert staff to potential problems.

The hospital also migrated from basic magneticstripe access cards to HID Global's iCLASS secure contactless smart cards and readers, including iCLASS R40 readers and iCLASS 2k cards.

iCLASS 13.56 MHz read/write contactless smart cards offer enhanced security through encryption and mutual authentication and provides versatile interoperability. The technology supports multiple applications such as biometric authentication, cashless vending and PC log-on security.

Achieving Centralization

A newly built central operations center housed in the hospital's new central energy plant now provides centralized access to the integrated systems. Serving as the hospital's communications hub, all 11 departmental dispatch stations and call centers are routed through the center, centralizing calls for patient transport, environmental and hospitality services, and plant operations.

"The centralization of the monitoring and dispatch system resulted in a common call center, which provides faster and more reliable responses to callers and facility issues," Seferian said. "The centralization of these systems fosters information exchange across the staff and increases quality for the caregivers, patients and their families."

"The ability to centralize our services, including security operations, helped us decrease our operating costs, while improving our patient care and overall hospital service," said Robert Nowlan, vice president of clinical support services for Miami Children's Hospital.

On the Case

Since the deployment of the new security upgrades, the hospital has reported decreased car theft rates, though recently, the hospital experienced two smashand- grab incidents in the patient drop-off area.

"While mothers were bringing their children into the hospital, their purses were stolen through smashed car windows," Nowlan said. "In each case, the incidents were caught on camera, and we are working with local law enforcement to investigate those crimes. In the end, Johnson Controls has helped us become more operationally efficient and accountable, which is something we've been working toward."

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