A Secure Healthcare Prescription
Hospitals are improving security, operational efficiencies, and patient safety
- By Courtney Dillon Pedersen
- Mar 01, 2019
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities face unique security
and surveillance challenges. These often large,
multi-building/multi-level facilities operate 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, year-round—there is no
downtime allowed for their operation.
In most cases, these environments are fairly open with staff members,
patients and their families, vendors, emergency and support
teams always moving throughout the facility. With a mix of many
different common areas including waiting rooms, pharmacies, restaurants,
gift shops, parking and many private and restricted areas,
healthcare properties require a high level of flexibility and reliability
from their security systems.
A Real-time Situational Picture
While hospitals, clinics, laboratories, doctors’ offices and nursing
homes may use some physical security technologies such as security
guards, access control systems, metal detectors
and RFID security tags, only video
surveillance offers the real-time situational
picture for taking proactive and preventive
action, as well as evidential recording for
analysis, resolution, possible prosecution and
liability purposes.
According to Ryan Mellow, key account
manager for Milestone Systems, who is experienced
in dealing with healthcare projects,
this sector faces many diverse challenges
that video technology can resolve. The biggest
security concerns are centered around
regulation compliance, safety matters, and
the protection of people, property and physical
assets. Common security problems for
healthcare facilities include:
- Loss of high-value medical equipment
and assets; internal or external theft
- Access, use and theft of drugs and other
pharmaceutical items
- Securing ‘hot labs’ with nuclear medicines
used for radiation
- Workplace, domestic or street violence
- Patient elopement, accountability
- Illegal parking
- Infant abduction
- Vandalism
- Liability
“A typical deployment in today’s healthcare
environment revolves around a main facility
that acts as the centralized point, which
may or may not have a security operations
center that is manned,” Mellow said. “The
system then rolls out to other physical locations,
such as outpatient centers, clinics, labs,
supply sites and pharmacies.”
Mellow explained that typically, authorized
user access is defined in the system to
see the live or archived video, which usually
is recorded locally at the other sites, but the
overall system is managed from the central
facility. Increasingly, system administrators
are utilizing existing IT infrastructure, running
the video management software on
virtualized servers and taking advantage of
existing data center resources.
“With everything else a hospital needs
to deal with, cybersecurity is extremely important
in a healthcare setting,” Mellow
said. “With data security, privacy issues
and HIPAA regulations, the possibility of
private health information being hacked
can be very damaging both from a reputational
standpoint and a financial standpoint.”
It’s critical that any surveillance network
today use system-hardening features to help
users develop policies that deter network attacks.
Dual user authentication, end-to-end
video encryption and digital signing plus encryption
of exported video all play a role in a
good cybersecurity plan.
Open Platform
Developments
Developments in security and surveillance
solutions based on open platform VMS are
helping hospital and healthcare facilities
protect people and property, provide situational
awareness, and enhance operations.
Advantages of an open platform IP video
surveillance system include:
- Seamless integration with other security
systems (building management, access
control, RFID, retail point-of-sale applications)
and a unified point of control for
inter-operability
- The ability to add visual situational
awareness and alerts to improve response
times in emergency situations
- Superior information sharing with first
responders, such as ambulance, police
and fire departments
- Low total cost of ownership (TCO)
and substantial cost savings through
the use of commercial off-the-shelf
(COTS) components and third-party
applications
- Protection against future system obsolescence
and extensive “forklift upgrades”
- Easy and cost-effective expansion as
needs grow
- Ability to add new innovations as they
become available
Open architecture platforms make it
much easier to integrate with other security
or business elements, like access control
systems, lighting and perimeter gates and
doors. Since many IP network cameras have
digital outputs (I/O), the VMS can be used
to program cameras to activate switches
upon alarm signals to close, lock or open
doors, turn lights on or off, set off alarms
or other actions.
The benefits of an open platform extend
beyond security-related integrations and
play a key role in integrations with systems
for staff shift monitoring, building control
and management systems, traffic management
systems, business intelligence analytics
and complying with regulations for hygiene,
fire and environmental issues. Video monitoring
is useful for operational efficiencies in
managing deliveries, cleaning services, safe
food preparation and staff training.
Video Analytics
Research shows that although nothing is
more accurate than a trained human eye,
a human observer’s effectiveness degrades
quickly after short periods of time and as
the number of cameras increase. Software,
on the other hand, never tires. Software is always
watching, always analyzing and always
ready to sound an alarm or send an alert.
Some solutions integrate multiple video
analytics systems (both server- and camerabased)
under a single, easy-to-use interface
to correlate alerts from different systems, to
reduce false alerts and give security the best
intelligence of a potential incident.
Video analytics technology has significantly
advanced over the past few years,
improving its ability to provide real-time
intelligence. Today’s video analytics software
can provide alerts of suspicious activity,
such as a person abandoning a bag
or backpack, signaling a possible bomb
threat. Video analytics software can count
people or detect if they are moving or
grouping too tightly together, an action that might indicate a fight or gang activity.
More advanced programs actually learn
normal human patterns in a location, such
as hallways or waiting areas, and can highlight
and log behaviors of individuals who
act or move in unusual ways.
Scaling and
Interoperability
While IP networking makes it easy to connect
cameras and other IP video surveillance
components, it does not necessarily mean
“interoperability” or “open platform.” “IP
camera” simply means the product uses the
Internet Protocol (IP) to exchange data. It
does not guarantee that two brands of products
that are IP-based will “plug and play”
and instantly work together.
Many manufacturers of video surveillance
hardware (particularly proprietary
DVRs and NVRs) encode equipment to only
work with their own equipment or software.
They lock users into their solutions. Such
proprietary solutions can make it difficult to
scale a video surveillance system to include
offerings like access control, intrusion detection
and video analytics from other vendors.
They also keep integrators from being able to
utilize best-of-breed components at the most
competitive price.
Hospitals of all types and sizes stand to
see lower total cost of ownership, greater
effectiveness and more opportunities for integrations
by choosing a genuine open platform,
IP-based video surveillance solution.
Milestone Systems, along with many of
its integration and development partners,
has worked with hospitals and healthcare facilities
around the world to deploy effective
video solutions. Integrated systems and new
ways of thinking about video for both security
and non-security uses are helping healthcare
organizations provide safe, efficient, and
secure healing environments.
Massachusetts General
Hospital Integrated Video
With 1,300 cameras recording 24/7 and more
than 1,000 investigations to process per year,
Massachusetts General Hospital’s security
team was previously not able to keep up with
the vast amounts of recorded video.
“The number of investigations we were
doing was taking huge amounts of time for
reviewing video, and that was really a waste
of time,” said Bonnie Michelman, MGH executive
director of Police, Security and Outside
Services and Consultant for Partners
Healthcare. “We needed to augment heavily
with very good, state-of-the-art technology
that allows us to combine our intelligence,
labor, policies and procedures, in order to
create a better holistic approach to enterprise
risk management.”
A unified system was required to balance
the video surveillance needs of a busy hospital
campus with remote satellite locations
while upholding the highest level of security
possible, maintaining operational flow and
providing customer satisfaction that includes
expectations of privacy. Michelman and her
team decided on the Milestone XProtect
VMS platform. Camera count was increased
from 400 to 1,300, and standardized with
Axis network cameras connected directly to
the IP network.
To deal with the marked increase in video
data, MGH’s team chose BriefCam Syndex
Pro, a powerful set of analytic tools intended
to reduce the time and effort needed to conduct
video reviews, post-event video investigation
and real-time video monitoring. The
BriefCam solution ties in seamlessly with the
Milestone video management interface, providing
efficient workflow for investigators.
Large Bulgarian Hospital
Keeps Safe with Video
Uni Hospital is one of the largest, most modern
healthcare facilities in Bulgaria. With
more than 20,000 patients a year, security
is extremely important for keeping patients,
visitors and staff safe, and protecting expensive
medical equipment. The video system
was an integral part of the whole hospital
enterprise right from the beginning.
The security system is used for monitoring
open spaces, parking spaces and common
areas. Video plays a very important role
in controlling and monitoring the quality of
service and care for patients. With the integration
of biometric identification (fingerprint)
into the access control system, access
to critical premises such as laboratories and
drug stores is controlled. Doctors and nurses
have access only to premises that are directly
related to their work.
Four Milestone Husky M50 servers are
used with XProtect Professional and Milestone
Smart Client, combined with thirdparty
integrations, including access control,
biometrics and fire alarms. The flexibility
and openness of the Milestone software has
been a major advantage to the project.
Thanks to this innovative system the hospital
doesn’t need to invest much in physical
security as the reliable surveillance is achieved
with fewer human resources. The system’s automated
events and alarms minimize the risk of
human errors and reduce operating costs significantly.
The flexibility of the open platform video
software enables the hospital to expand and
optimize the system to meet all future needs.
Kansas Community Hospital
Searches Fast for Evidence
A busy Community Hospital in Kansas is an example of a successful
migration to digital video from an analog system. The hospital’s
Environmental Services & Security Director remembers an
incident when a car drove up to the emergency room and dropped
off an unconscious man with a drug overdose, then took off so as
not to get involved.
“Finding in our surveillance the images of the person who
dropped him off and the car he was driving only took us five minutes.
We knew what time he arrived and went right to that date and time
to see the evidence,” he said. “If we’d still had our old analog security
system, it would have taken us two-and-a-half hours searching
through videotape to get that evidence.”
The director recalls that they shared the footage with the police
and after following up they realized that those people were involved
in other criminal activities in the area. The XProtect software allows
easy export of portions of video, should law enforcement officials
request them.
Central Hospital in Finland Trains
Challenged Parents
A Central Hospital in Finland was looking for an effective way to
help parents with babies and young children who have challenging
sleeping and feeding problems. Practice and research has demonstrated
that video methods are essential tools for clinical interventions
when treating problems in child-parent relationships. Therefore, the
authorities decided to use Milestone XProtect video surveillance to
treat the troubled families.
“Thanks to the video, we can provide better help to parents with
babies and toddlers who often have sleeping and feeding problems,”
said the Child Psychiatrist and Clinical Director, Clinic of Child Psychiatry.
“The software is an important tool in helping families with
problems they cannot solve by themselves. The end result of training
with the interactions on video is healthier and happier babies and
parents with increased knowledge and peace of mind.”
Nebraska Healthcare
Complex Improves Safety
In Nebraska, a leading healthcare institution was looking for an opportunity
to improve safety for patients, while also reducing its overhead
costs. An operations manager was asked to investigate video
monitoring as an option.
“Our goal was to ensure patient safety and to reduce costs,” she
said. “We always have a certain population of patients who are confused
and agitated; patients who we are not comfortable to leave
alone in their rooms. It was previously necessary to staff those rooms
for round-the-clock observation. At a time when
changing budget priorities meant we needed to
reduce our staffing, installing video monitoring
cameras at almost every bedside was the best option
and helped us a great deal.”
This article originally appeared in the March 2019 issue of Security Today.