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Touchless healthcare

Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors that makes use of various technologies, but how much is of benefit to the whole industry, including the patients that are admitted to the various hospitals? It is said that biometrics in healthcare can solve patient matching and identification issues. With this said, a lot of changes have come into play with the development of new contactless technology.

There are various challenges that employees in the health sector must face – growth of decentralised facilities, standardising security products, cost containment across all physical security systems, employees and patients having a higher expectation of security and protecting the privacy of patients are just some of those challenges, subsequently much needs to be improved.

Security needs have grown as well to protect patient safety. Finding new ways to balance operating costs, patient expectations and cost-effective security solutions are sustainable with a phased plan for technology migration to IP centric solutions. Different health sectors have various needs and these may depend on the high reliability and availability of security systems, having more cost-effective security for smaller facilities, higher level of validated access control in critical areas and lower operating costs for security.

One needs to take into consideration all these factors and look for ways that technology systems can improve the various facilities that need customised solutions. With confidential data and potentially dangerous drugs and medical equipment, it can be more of a challenge for the healthcare sector to keep their premises safe than in other industries.

Therefore, it is essential for the healthcare facilities to search the market, as certain companies have products that enable healthcare facilities to have access control systems, time and attendance devices etc., that help to ensure only authorised personnel have access to restricted areas of the building. They need to look for companies that can assist them in selecting a system that works with the layout of their premises.

Using biometrics

Making use of biometrics within a hospital or pharmacy will ensure that security systems are more accurate and safer. Imagine having to deal with very private information and having to allow only a few people access to this information. Having a biometric device installed at that restricted part of the hospital or pharmacy will ensure that management knows exactly who has been in that area, when and for how long they have been in there. One may argue that because biometric machines usually require a fingerprint or thumbprint, or some other unique information needed to identify a person, this can lead to serious risk of identity theft. Faking or obtaining fingerprints are virtually impossible. One cannot obtain fingerprints from a biometric reader storage memory or database on a computer because these details are encrypted by a developed algorithm which is also virtually impossible to crack.

Going touchless

Taking into account the latest biometric developments, ZKTeco has developed touchless biometric devices that can proactively acquire face and palm data to perform biometric template comparison and identity verification with computer vision technology. Once being recognised, registered staff can enter and exit specific restricted areas, without wasting valuable time waiting in line. Hygienic, hands-free and accurate biometric identification is undoubtedly one of the best-known access control solutions in public areas, especially in hospitals, medical centres and clinics.

Using touchless biometric authentication devices helps us avoid touching surfaces and door handles that people share in their day-to-day activities. In medical facilities, access points and door handles are some of the most vulnerable areas in terms of the spread of infection. Basic door operations such as contactless opening and closing are a crucial shield in the fight against cross-infection.

ZKTeco’s touchless biometric solutions have been specifically developed to contribute to preventing people or patients from touching doors or handles, thus helping reduce the risk of picking up germs from handles or other non-touchless biometric terminals. This new line of access control and time attendance devices also help measure the accurate body temperature of all users at access points and identify if a user is wearing a mask, providing an accurate and fast temperature screen during identity verification.

Any health facility can install a biometric device depending on the level of security required by the hospital or pharmacy. Biometrics have grown to a point where it is affordable to add biometric-based security to your facility, with no lack in quality or technology.

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