Assigning Access Priorities

Physical access control needs to be carefully configured to ensure highly sensitive areas, such as the maternity/nursery units and pharmacies, are armed with maximum security and privacy. A&S examines the common authorization settings and afterhours access control of health care facilities for effective foot traffic control.

Electronic access control settings vary for maternity/nursery units, pharmacies, clinics and nursing homes. Managing foot traffic in these areas requires system integrators to apply different configurations to maximize safety and work efficiency.

In physical access control, tailgating users — those who follow an authorized user into the restricted area without validating their own entitlement to that space — are a challenge, said Derek Botti, IT Architect for Tivoli Industry Solutions — Health Care, Electronics, Manufacturing and Smart City Industry Lead, IBM. "Mantrap solutions are typically reserved for highly controlled areas, so while most physical access solutions can establish differing levels of access, ensuring controlled access is still a challenge."

To address this challenge, security managers need to assess the necessary level of access for every unit within the institution. "Areas like the maternity unit require integration to infant abduction warning systems, and pharmaceutical units require dual-factor authentication," said Mark Thummel, Account Manager of Security and Fire in Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls. "The integration to the surveillance system to various degrees

Derek Botti

throughout the facility is an effective way to increase security of the facility and improve the effectiveness of the security personnel."

For perimeter control, vehicular access should be monitored and managed with card access, surveillance, intercoms and remote access, said Lisa Pryse, President of the Health Care Division, Old Dominion Security. "For areas which are main portals into the facility during various hours of the day, card access coupled with a receptionist or security officer is preferable. All other entrances should be secured 24/7 by card access or a keyed lock."

In many cases, the main entrance to the emergency room (ER) remains open 24/7, unless there is an extreme security situation requiring the department — or entire facility — to move to lockdown or restricted access mode, Pryse continued. "All doors to the ER should have the capability to be placed into a secured/card access status. For normal operations at the ER, security personnel should be present at the main entrance, lobby and in the patient treatment areas. The doors into the patient treatment areas should be secured 24/7 with card access, both from the ER lobby side as well as from the other areas of the health care facility. Additional integrated security systems may be required in the behavioral health areas of the ER."