You want to integrate your nurse call, wandering resident, access control and even surveillance cameras into one system.

How can you juggle all of them at once?

The nurse call and access control systems have always been the main safety concern for our customers. One of the bigger changes to this concern recently has been the move from integration to unification, to unified platforms.

Unification provides for individual nurse call, wandering resident prevention, access control, video application and reporting placed in a single server solution along with enhanced capabilities. An example of these capabilities would be deeper sets of analytics and reporting capabilities for customers from combined datasets. Another capability would be mass notification to various devices from each individual system to a specific or group pager, mobile device and email address.

Interoperability, unification and integration are no longer just buzzwords for teamwork and efficiency. They are now a priority. As anyone in the healthcare industry knows, market forces are now driving product development, systems integration, training and even the relationships between manufacturers, integrators and end users themselves.

Another change is the adoption of wireless devices, which is a significant growth area for access control and nurse call systems. These types of products have been around for a few years, but with acceptance of their use increasing and with the price points coming down they are becoming more common place within our industry.

• Nurse call systems are utilizing wireless patient pendants rather than in-room stations, giving patients the ability to call for assistance from any location. Wireless pendants can also help locate patients who are not in their rooms.
• Access control systems are adopting P0E and wireless locks. They provide the security of a traditional key-based solution with the added capabilities of accountability and auditing. With a wireless lock, you can create specialized access for particular employees, visitors and residents.
• Surveillance cameras can be tied to door activity, movement or specific events by the access control and or nurse call system.

That ability to incorporate nurse call and wandering resident prevention with the access control and surveillance camera system all wirelessly is a fairly new, cost effective and very efficient concept in providing a safe secure environment for everyone. With all the different wireless opportunities being introduced, a facility is now faced with the difficulty of integration.

These significant changes can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate for those not technically minded. Nevertheless they are very vital to the industry and are becoming a strategic factor in enhancing the safety and environment of the residents, efficiency and effectiveness of staff, and economic stability to the organization.