Healthcare Facilities Access Control

Access Control and Health Care Facilities

Small and medium sized health care facilities encompass a wide range of business types, from small and relatively simple medical clinics to large complex teaching, research, therapy and rehabilitation centers.

Ideally, all health care facilities should convey a message to patients, visitors, volunteers, vendors, and staff that is welcoming, caring, comforting, and compassionate, committed to patient well-being and safety, where stress is relieved, refuge is provided, respect is reciprocated, competence is symbolized, way-finding is facilitated, and families are accommodated. And of course, security is key.

Health care facility needs are evolving rapidly.

New equipment technologies, new treatment methodologies, changes in diseases, and changes in the patient population base all impact the facilities that house them. Inpatient care is steadily being reduced while outpatient services are growing. There is increasing emphasis on special-care units and smaller satellite facilities rather than large, centralized facilities.

Access-control devices such as locks, entry devices and door alarms have evolved to meet the changing needs of healthcare facilities. In addition to securing sensitive areas such as specialty clinics and doctor’s offices, asset protection is a major concern for medical facilities. Prescription medications, medical supplies and other high-value items are potential targets for theft and need to be secured adequately.

While the overall demand is to keep a facility secure, other security demands are important as well. Complying with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) requirements regarding the security of controlled substances, medications and pharmaceutical supplies is also critical.

Access-control systems for healthcare facilities often must function seamlessly in multi-department and campus environments. Controlling segmented specialties, such as cardiac, research, and therapy, is crucial because all departments have different needs and requirements. These same systems, however, must allow authorized staff to move freely and accommodate the many credentials needed by staff and volunteers.

Features of an Access Control Systems in Healthcare Facilities

Cloud-Based Keyless Entry: Reducing “touch points” is one key aspect of improving security systems using door-opening technologies through electronic access systems. Door readers can read a credential, authenticate the user and open the door automatically.

The system further allows healthcare centers to control access to “keys” and other high-value assets via tracking and reporting capabilities. The system generates reports that can be sent automatically to authorized recipients, providing a complete audit trail that can be used to validate compliance with regulations.

Get a quote

Talk With Us (949) 828-3008

Benefits of Electronic Access Control and Keyless Entry

Apart from the extra layer of security, the benefits of keyless access security systems are many including:

Providing entry to the premises for multiple employees at management’s discretion.
Elimination of the need to make copies of keys for all relevant staff to have access; simply provide the access code.
Controlled master key systems and rekeying
Monitoring is easy and immediate: Once the keyless security system is in place, you’re able to see exactly who has attempted to access the healthcare premises, at what time and what entry / exit point. This offers valuable insight into how secure the business is too, and can be extremely helpful in assessing security measures for the future.

Examples of The Uses of A Keyless Entry System In A Healthcare Facility

MULTIPLE EMPLOYEES OR HIGH TURNOVER

Healthcare centers usually have staff with differences in who can access what and where. And sometimes, there is high turnover of staff like interns and volunteers. With a keyless entry system, there is no need to keep changing locks and keys. Simply create new access codes and delete or deactivate those no longer in use. Moreover, there’s no fear of possible unauthorized access from an old disgruntled ex-staff.

TEMPORARY ACCESS FOR NON-STAFF

You may need to allow access to delivery or maintenance personnel, or to temporary people who work during off hours. Just create day or night codes accessible only for a specific date or time and deactivate them when the job is done or no longer needed.

TO CUSTOMIZE ACCESS

Some staff may have shifting schedules or access may or not be allowed at certain times. A Keyless Entry System is programmable to allow or deny entry on definite hours or the day of the week and reactivate/change permissions when work schedules change.

AN AUDIT TRAIL FOR ALL ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS

The Keyless System can generate an audit trail report at any time. This is useful when you need to keep track of all access movements of all staff including at which specific entry points and at what time access occurred; This an also incidentally be used for payroll purposes. The audit report generated by the system can also help deter malicious intent or detect suspicious activity.

EMERGENCY LOCK DOWN

In case of emergency perhaps due to domestic crisis or possible natural disasters the keyless entry system has the capability to lock all exterior doors and guard against unauthorized entry. Locked exterior doors can prevent dangerous people from gaining access, and that can literally be a life or death situation.

Keyless entry systems give you the ability to lock all exterior doors with a couple clicks of a button, not allowing any entry whatsoever. Hopefully (and most likely) you won’t ever have to use a keyless entry system in such a way, but if it should happen, it’s nice knowing that your facility has that capability.

Why Action 1st

Action 1st is the best commercial locksmith in Orange County. Part of the reason why this is true is because we specialize as a commercial locksmith. This is all we do. We do one thing, and we do it well. This specialization allows us to keep up on the latest technology and offer you the best price to fit your needs.

33 years of experience tells a large part of the story. We have remained in business largely because we always put you, the customer, first.

Call us today for a free onsite review and estimate.