MEDICAL
LOCKING INTO THE FUTURE: ELECTRONIC ACCESS FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Enhance Security, Reduce Infection.
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he need for physical security in the healthcare industry is no longer limited to grounds, building and room access. Today, security must extend down to medical devices such as dispensing carts and new portable diagnostic equipment. For a lot of health-care facility owners and operators, monitoring security and usability at the device level can be a challenge, and they are looking to the manufacturers of these devices for solutions. To meet this growing need for more security in medical applications, manufacturers must build equipment, such as medical carts, by employing access control systems that meet regulatory requirements and can be networked with the facility’s larger security infrastructure to ensure a safe and intuitive end user operation.
Health Care Meets the Digital Age The conversion of medical records to an electronic format is making it easier to share and access data among the healthcare network. However, as advised by the Health Information Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA) and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), patient data must be kept secure and protected from data breaches, adding a level of security concerns for both equipment manufacturers and facility operators. While this new technology was designed to help streamline work processes for medical personnel, it has also moved equipment out into areas that are more accessible to nonemployees, such as the patient bedside and facility corridor. This means that supplies, drugs and other controlled substances may be more vulnerable to theft or human error.
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Unfortunately, many facility operators have been saddled with 20th-century security to protect 21st century equipment. Managing mechanical keys can be complicated, inconvenient and costly. Removing Physical Keys Physical keys need to be carefully managed to ensure they are in the hands of authorized personnel only. These keys 25 | Industry EMEA | July 2020
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