Is Your Healthcare Organization Ready for Cloud? The Good, The Why, and The Results
Workplace violence is rising, and a single data breach cost healthcare organizations nearly $11 million on average in 2023. Protecting clinicians, patients and staff now takes physical and cyber security working as one. This whitepaper explains what cloud-based access control, intrusion and visitor management can do for hospitals and health systems, and what results to expect.
What's inside
- The trends shaping healthcare security: AI, staffing pressure and rising threats
- The benefits of cloud, from patient privacy and compliance to emergency response
- How cloud handles crash-team access, outbreak lockdowns and high-risk areas like pharmacies
- A real-world example of cloud security at scale
Introduction
Over the past few years, the healthcare industry has had to address a growing volume of security risks and business challenges. Workplace violence is rising, and data breaches cost healthcare organizations an average of nearly $11 million per incident in 2023. Hidden inefficiencies can create holes in security programs, draining resources. These vulnerabilities can significantly increase security practitioners’ workload, compromising safety and damaging the resources and personnel dedicated to maintaining it.
Protecting clinicians, patients, and staff requires a holistic physical security strategy. Security leaders must focus on safeguarding doors and access levels, ensuring an efficient visitor process, and securing high risk areas while monitoring cyber threats such as ransomware and malware. Today, physical security and cybersecurity are intricately linked, and one can’t exist without the other.
At the same time, technology is evolving rapidly. Video analytics are increasingly important as a tool to automate functions and gain new levels of situational awareness. Biometric adoption is rising simultaneously due to an increased interest in AI. Cloud services for physical security, particularly access control, intrusion, and visitor management, drive infrastructure changes due to their inherent benefits. These advancements offer the potential for more efficient, secure, and scalable security solutions across the healthcare sector.
Over the next few years, several key trends will shape strategic decisions and investments across the industry—all of which impact security.
Integration of A.I. and Emerging Technologies
The appeal of AI is undeniable, but it is essential to consider the concerns regarding privacy, security, compliance, and ethics. Even so, the industry has seen a noticeable increase in interest in intelligent platforms. In the future, impending regulations are expected to help ensure the ethical application of AI and emphasize its role as a complement to healthcare providers rather than a replacement for their services.
Improving Workforce Dynamics
An ongoing staffing shortage forces the industry to explore technological solutions to ease the burden on their teams. Technology aims to bridge the workforce gap, improve patient care, and retain experienced talent. At the same time, the rise of team-based and virtual care will also drive the future of technology adoption.
Mitigating Security Threats
Healthcare organizations face various evolving security threats and must implement proactive mitigation strategies. Security must be an ongoing commitment, and stakeholders must use multiple measures to safeguard sensitive data and physical sites, including compliance audits, threat simulations, and robust physical security protocols to uncover vulnerabilities and strengthen defenses.
Security is at the forefront of addressing these challenges, with access control, visitor management, and intrusion detection playing crucial roles. While most hospitals have traditionally used on-premises access control, modern challenges still need to be fully addressed. Cloud-based access control offers a comprehensive solution, easing complex requirements like role-based access and managing high traffic volumes efficiently.
This white paper examines the benefits of cloud access control for healthcare organizations, the reasons for deploying these systems, and the results organizations can expect to see.
The Good: Benefits of Cloud
Cloud-based access control systems, including visitor management and intrusion, offer numerous advantages, making them ideal for modern healthcare environments, large or small.
Enhanced Security and Privacy
Hospitals manage vast amounts of sensitive patient data, and protecting this data is crucial. Cloud-based systems provide robust security measures to safeguard patient information, ensuring compliance with regulations like HIPAA. These systems can also integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure, providing more data protection and reducing the risk of breaches.
Improved Data Management
Hospitals have hundreds, if not thousands, of employees requiring various access levels and a steady stream of visitors. Cloud platforms, like access control-as-a-service, can integrate with third-party solutions used by departments like human resources and IT. This streamlines workflows and automates once-manual processes while reducing the workload of system administrators. It also reduces the risk of errors and ensures that the right people have access at the right time.
Scalability and Flexibility
Healthcare facilities often comprise sites of different sizes across multiple geographies, each with unique security needs. Cloud-based systems provide scalability and flexibility, allowing security teams to expand or modify their security infrastructure as needed without significant investment in new hardware. This adaptability is crucial for helping address varying risks more than different sites — critical as a hospital faces different risks than an urgent care facility.
Mobility and Remote Management
Let’s face it: the ability to be on the move is crucial in today’s world. Cloud access control allows security personnel to manage and monitor access roles remotely, which benefits large hospital campuses where security teams need to be in the field. Mobile applications also enable quick responses to security incidents, support immediate changes to access permissions, and drive efficient management of the facility’s security from anywhere.
Integration with Other Systems
Integration between access control and other network-enabled systems, like video surveillance, enhances situational awareness. An access control system with an open API architecture facilitates this integration, and the combination of multiple systems is increasingly important. For example, combining access control with video surveillance can help security teams assess potential threats more accurately, improving safety and security.
The Why: Addressing Healthcare Security Challenges
From protecting patient data to ensuring the safety of staff and patients, healthcare is a dynamic environment. Understanding their unique security needs is essential to developing practical solutions safeguarding physical and digital assets.
Protecting Patient Privacy
Balancing patient privacy with security is one of the most significant challenges in healthcare today. With network safety threats increasing, healthcare institutions need robust systems to protect sensitive patient data. Cloud systems ensure that only authorized personnel can access private areas, safeguarding patient information.
Compliance with Regulations
Healthcare institutions must comply with stringent government regulations and patient identity and confidentiality standards. Cloud services are designed to meet these regulatory requirements, ensuring that healthcare providers maintain compliance while enhancing their security.
Managing High Traffic and Data
Hospitals are bustling environments with constant traffic from staff, patients, and visitors. Managing access control and the visitor management process in such a dynamic setting can be challenging. Cloud based systems streamline data management, making granting and revoking access as needed easier. This efficiency is crucial for maintaining security without compromising the facility’s operational flow.
The Results: Practical Implementation and Outcomes
Implementing cloud-based access control systems has yielded significant positive outcomes. By adopting these solutions, facilities have enhanced their security posture, streamlined operations, and improved compliance with regulatory standards.
Enhanced Emergency Response
In emergencies, the ability to act quickly and decisively is critical. Cloud-enabled solutions enable rapid lockdowns and other security measures at the push of a button. This capability is invaluable in infectious disease outbreaks, where certain areas must be isolated immediately to prevent the spread.
Better Resource Allocation
With integrated systems, security teams can make better use of their resources. For example, video surveillance coupled with access control allows for more precise monitoring, reducing the need for constant physical presence in all areas. Security personnel can be deployed more effectively, focusing on high risk areas and improving overall security coverage.
Future-Proofing Security
As technology continues to evolve, so do healthcare institutions’ security needs. Cloud based systems are designed to adapt to these changes, providing a future-proof solution that can scale with the facility’s needs. This adaptability ensures that healthcare providers remain at the forefront of security technology, ready to meet new challenges as they arise.
The Solution: Cloud-Based Access Control in Action
Healthcare institutions are tasked with maintaining a welcoming environment while meeting stringent security and safety obligations. The cloud can help healthcare organizations achieve this balance by enabling real-time monitoring, streamlined management, and enhanced protection, effectively addressing security challenges and improving operational efficiency. Cloud-based also accommodates complex role based access requirements, such as immediate access for medical crash teams and zoned lockdowns during outbreaks. Additionally, they manage access to high-risk areas like pharmacies and blood banks based on hierarchical permissions, all while handling the daily flow of staff, patients, and visitors.
Real World
The confidence in cloud-based systems spans various sectors, from corporate offices to educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and government buildings. They have a proven track record of enhancing operational efficiency, improving security measures, and offering a seamless visitor experience. While traditional access control and visitor management methods are still in use, the growing inclination towards cloud-based offerings reflects their superiority in meeting the modern demands of efficiency, compliance, and visitor satisfaction. Here is an example of one organization taking advantage of these benefits.
Google, a globally recognized leader in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, faced a distinct challenge in managing the influx of visitors across its extensive network of global offices. The company needed a visitor management solution that was robust in terms of security and scalable to adapt to its ever-growing, innovative environment.
The company selected a cloud-based visitor management system, with two kiosks and an event management application, to streamline and secure the visitor management process to meet these needs. The kiosks are an advancement in visitor management, fully autonomous and equipped with state-of-the-art technology to support access control strategies and facilitate a smooth and secure check-in process. They are designed to quickly authenticate and authorize visitors, minimizing wait times and enhancing the overall entry experience.
The kiosks’ ability to instantly allocate host responsibility and authorize visitor access through a simple badge scan is efficient and boosts security. They seamlessly integrate with Google’s existing systems, and the minimal maintenance requirements benefit an organization of Google’s scale, reducing the administrative burden significantly.
Complementing the kiosks is an event management application ideal for managing large-scale events at Google’s premises. This application allows for self-service entry, where visitors can scan QR codes on their badges to access authorized areas. This is particularly effective in enhancing security, as it ensures that visitors are restricted to predefined zones and facilitates efficient crowd management.
Integrating these solutions into Google’s visitor management system has significantly improved operational efficiency and security. The visitor check-in process has become notably faster and more streamlined, providing Google with an enhanced ability to manage large volumes of visitors without compromising security or visitor experience. Additionally, the comprehensive reporting capabilities of these systems have provided Google with deep insights into visitor patterns and preferences, which are crucial for future planning and security enhancements.
Conclusion
Google’s implementation of these solutions across its global offices has demonstrated the vast potential and practical benefits of cloud-based visitor management in large, innovative organizations. This implementation’s success highlights its effectiveness in meeting the complex needs of a multinational corporation, setting a benchmark for security, efficiency, and visitor experience in the corporate world.
There are many reasons to consider and evaluate cloud-based access control, visitor management, and intrusion solutions, as they offer a comprehensive solution to the security challenges faced by modern healthcare institutions. By enhancing security, improving data management, and providing scalability, these systems ensure that healthcare facilities can operate efficiently and securely today and into the future. Managing access remotely and integrating with other systems further strengthens the facility’s security infrastructure, providing patients, staff, and visitors peace of mind.
As the healthcare sector continues to evolve, embracing cloud-based access control systems will be crucial for maintaining the highest security and efficiency standards.
