Hospital Security Strategies

Fred Miehl is a Certified Protection Professional with the security systems design consulting firm of Aggleton and Associates, Inc. He is a member of ASIS, and a member of the IAHSS; he was a former board member of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC). Miehl has been planning and designing security systems for more than 30 years.

A soaring three-floor atrium, with two walls of windows that flood the area with natural light provides a soothing transition from the outside. Comfortable, carpeted waiting areas flank the two walls of windows. With abundant plants and plush settees and chairs, the area has the welcoming ambiance of a hotel lobby. In fact, this newly renovated lobby as part of a large suburban hospital complex was designed to welcome visitors and provide patients a feeling of reassurance and well being. As part of an effort to be more competitive, some hospital administrators are trying to break the typical stereotype of the dark, gloomy, smelly hospital by creating a more open and inviting environment for their patients, employees and visitors alike.

In order to keep up with those trends, hospital security strategies have been changing as well. Security officers dressed in formal police attire and stationed at various posts within this environment may look out of place. Dressed in concierge-type blazers, the security officers have become public relations representatives of the organization since they are frequently the first contact a patient or visitor has with a hospital. In addition to their normal duties of monitoring and controlling visitors, the officers are often required to be the source of information and directing visitors and patients to their destinations.
Hospital facilities are usually comprised of a number of buildings with many entrances, rooms, areas with high-value equipment, supplies, drugs and a variety of people -patients, visitors, staff, and vendors, with a need to move about freely. To control this environment from a security perspective requires knowledge of current and future physical and logical access needs, coupled with an understanding of the standards and regulations facing today’s health care practitioners, As part of physical security, health care security practitioners are implementing the latest state of the art security systems for access control, video monitoring and communication which will also improve their staffs productivity.

Points of Entry

Visitor control in this type of environment for the hospital security practitioner is one of their most difficult tasks.

As part of controlling patient visitors, some hospitals have implemented a visitor management system which allows security officials to track who is in the building and ensures visitors are only allowed access to certain areas of the hospital. Hospital security staff and/or volunteers can scan the visitor’s driver’s license. The visitor’s information is automatically entered into a database and a visitor pass is printed on a label, which is then worn by the visitor for the duration of their visit. The system can also be integrated onto the hospitals network for continual update with the patient data system to verify that the patient is registered. Some childrens hospitals have implemented a feature that checks a visitor’s name against the national sex offender registry.
Video cameras located in the immediate lobby areas, typically include the gift shop will provide the security officer the ability to view and assess a potential security issue on his video monitors or video workstation that may be located at his concierge/security post. All video cameras throughout the hospital facility should be recorded at all times.

Respective community crime factors and quality of life issues are mirrored within each hospital environment and are most evident in the ER (emergency room) waiting area of the urban and inner city health care institutions. It is not uncommon for ER staff members to be subjected to verbal and sometimes physical abuse that may arise from domestic conflicts, child custody disputes, gang violence, drug users and psychiatric patients.
Triage staff members in particular are usually the target of verbal abuse, particularly by patient family members. In response to that potential event, each triage station should be provided with a duress device or personal alarms that summons the security officer. Duress alarms have been proven to help in lots of other medical facilities in the past. For example, those working at northern health feel safer while working a shift thanks to new alarms installed. Proper deployment of video cameras in the ER should assure that these stations are also within camera view. The ER pedestrian and ambulance entrances, the waiting room and the psychiatric observation rooms are areas where cameras should also be deployed.

Since emergency rooms in hospitals operate around the clock, most institutions will provide continuous security personnel presence in the area. The officer is normally positioned at a fixed post that has sub components of the facilitys security system which provide the ability to monitor ER alarms, view all ER cameras and remotely control the operation of doors in the immediate area. It’s so important that there is CCTV in hospitals. This ensures that the staff can keep eyes on the whole building, allowing them to keep patients safe. Hospitals have a duty of care, so it’s vital that they use a reputable CCTV Company to install high-quality cameras. This increases hospital security significantly.

Utilizing card access controlled doors between the waiting room and the ER treatment area can be very useful in limiting patient visitors and eliminating unwanted and distracting pedestrian activity between the two areas. Card access control may also be applied at the ambulance and pedestrian entrances as well as entrances leading into the ER treatment area from other areas of the building.
During certain periods, typically on weekends, some hospitals will deploy magnetometers to scan individuals who seek treatment in their ER.
Common Areas of Security Concern

The application of access control can be one of the most important elements of a hospitals security solution. Access control refers to managing who is allowed to enter where and when, including limiting access to people, places, and things and, via an audit trail, having the ability to track and monitor individuals and assets. According to JCAHO (the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), one element of performance by which a hospitals environment of care is measured is that the hospital controls access to and egress from security-sensitive areas, as determined by the hospital.

A primary problem with loading dock and material storage security is that most hospitals lack permanent security supervision in these areas. Add to this the sometimes relaxed attitude of the shipping and receiving operation by leaving doors open or the area unattended, and many hospitals are left dangerously vulnerable to assets being taken out.

Proper loading dock security starts with comprehensive policies and procedures for shipping and receiving operations. Card access control on doors, asset management systems, inventory management systems, intelligent video management and advanced integration of these should help in limiting the losses.
To minimize pilferage of foodstuff, dietary services departments will utilize card access control combined with video cameras on their food storage rooms as well as walk-in refrigerators and freezers.

A high level of security is required for areas such as operating theatres and diagnostic suites, to assure entry by authorized staff members only. Card access control devices for these critical areas need to be reliable, fast, hands-free and easy to use.

To maintain compliancy with HIPPA regulations, some healthcare organizations are combining smart card technology with biometrics for access to patient and employee records as well as pharmacy access control.

A hospital administrators biggest concern is the fear of litigation and a potential incident that would damage the institutions image. The abduction of an infant from the hospitals maternity ward would probably lead to both. To prevent such an incident, many hospitals that provide birthing centers with maternity and pediatric wards have installed infant monitoring systems.

An infant protection system is comprised of a small, tamper-proof tag that is placed on the infants ankle or wrist immediately after birth. Should an infant be carried toward an exit door, the system will automatically set off an alarm with video at the local nurses station and at the central security room, activate door locks including stairwell exit doors and hold selected elevators. These systems will integrate with access control systems, video cameras located at the various doors, public address systems, pagers, fire systems and other security alarms. Some systems also have the ability to automatically confirm that the right baby is with the right mother by providing an audible signal when the infants and mothers are correctly matched.
Large medical centers with research facilities may be utilizing Cesium 137 Blood Irradiators. Recent world events have raised a concern that the radio active material in these could be used by terrorists to construct a so-called dirty bomb.

The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Committee) has mandated strict requirements some of which include biometric access controls with alarm detection and video assessment, background checks for personnel with access to the materials, assessment and response capabilities; transportation controls; and Information protection.

Hospitals with research capabilities will probably also have laboratories and vivariums that house the animals that are used as part of their research. These areas also require stringent access control not only from a security perspective but also to assure that these areas are maintained within a controlled environment.

Card Access Solutions
As one of the most common card access technologies, the magnetic stripe has been in use for many years in the health care environment due to the relatively low cost of magnetic stripe cards and readers. Today, with higher associated maintenance costs, many health care campuses are installing new proximity card readers that provide more functionality combined with less overall maintenance costs.

Proximity cards are read very rapidly and easily by simply presenting the cards within a prescribed distance to the card reader. Magnetic stripe cards require the motion of swiping or insertion which at times necessitates several attempts for a valid read. In vital applications such as in a hospital where time to access an area could involve a life and death situation; the proximity card readers certainly provide the superior functionality.
For hospitals contemplating a switch to proximity, dual technology cards (magnetic stripe and proximity) would provide a solution during the transition period to support the older magnetic stripe technology while transitioning to the more reliable, higher functionality.

For years, many health care facilities have relied on multiple card credentials to fulfill different tasks. It is still not unusual to enter a hospital and find staff members wearing multiple badges for photo ID, an access control card, a cafeteria card and an additional authentication factor for network login. As a one- card solution many hospitals are contemplating and switching to a smart card. Utilizing both, contact and contactless smart chip technologies, a single credential can handle a bar code for inventory control, a photo of the employee for identification, a dollar value for use in the cafeteria, a biometric template for data protection in the IT department, and proximity technology for access control.

Video Solutions
The application of video cameras in most health care facilities is used primarily as an investigative tool to assist in the review of an incident that has occurred. Video cameras provide additional and remote eyes that enable minimal security staff to observe multiple remote locations, either in real-time or recorded for future review. They are also an overt reminder that a security system is present. Where possible, camera views should be associated with alarm conditions to assist in alarm assessment. For instance, upon an alarm condition on the infant monitoring system, associated camera views can automatically be displayed on video monitors or computer workstations located at the pediatric ward nurses station, the lobby security post and the hospitals security response center. Having a bigger monitor might also help support this video solution. Not only would this allow for a better picture, staff could also benefit from the larger screen as research has found that most people are more efficient with a larger monitor. To see some of the best monitors, hospitals may want to look for Freesync monitor reviews to see which ones are available. This might just improve the quality of the hospital workers and security.

Health care facilities typically will record and store camera views on computer hard drives for at least 31 days. These computers or digital/network video recorders have the capability of residing on the hospitals IT network or on a private network dedicated to security. Select workstations on that network will then have access to the live and recorded video.

Unlike analog video cameras which rely on point-to-point cabling, IP or network cameras are designed to transmit over a network where video signals and power are transmitted on the same cable. IP cameras are becoming a popular and an important part of the health care security infrastructure due to their cost effective ease of installation.

Video Analytics is a fairly new technology which has been applied in the health care environment. It is used to analyze video for specific data, behavior, objects or attitude. Examples of video analytics applications include: counting the number of people entering a hospitals lobby door or vehicles entering a hospitals parking lot. Video analytics can also be used to generate an alarm when individuals attempt to enter a restricted or closed off area of a hospital. It can also determining the location, speed and direction of travel of pedestrians and vehicles and can be used to identify suspicious behavior of people.

Todays ever changing and evolving health care facilities and hospitals present unique challenges for security. Security practitioners need to be proactive and adopt a non-conventional approach to maintain that same pace.
Fred Miehl can be reached at fred.miehl@aggleton.com