From hospitals to out-patient treatment centers, many healthcare facilities are struggling to provide patient care, ensure the health and safety of medical personnel, and protect vital supplies from theft. As IP technology continues to improve the functionality and performance of video surveillance, more and more healthcare facilities are using video monitoring for digital care solutions. From thermal cameras to video analytics to remote monitoring IoT sensors, healthcare facilities are using technology to fill the care gap and safely expand patient monitoring.
Now, more than ever, Milestone’s Open Platform video management system (VMS) can take on a bigger role beyond traditional security at healthcare facilities. This real-time data and observation can improve the safety of the patient environment and the quality of care for both patients and hard-working medical personnel.
Video Monitoring
Many healthcare facilities currently use network cameras for surveillance, security, and situational awareness throughout the interior and exterior of facilities. In addition, different types of IP video devices can assist staff in safely monitoring contagious patients, including thermal, infrared, and high-definition cameras, to name a few.
An Open Platform VMS gives healthcare facilities the ability to quickly and securely integrate new cameras and capabilities. It also ensures they have their own independent database and instance of the software. Each healthcare organization has complete control over its own system.
Machine Learning Analytics
Video analytics software can analyze every single frame of video and flag potential issues as they occur, allowing staff to make better, more informed decisions. Machine learning uses algorithms to discover patterns and generate insights from video data. Deep learning, a more advanced subfield of machine learning, uses repetitive example-based training to teach video analytics software how to identify patterns, classify information and predict behavior from video surveillance.
Video technology also has the potential to notify nurses if a patient’s dressings have not been changed or if a bed-bound patient needs assistance. Cameras, sound sensors, and video analytics can alert staff if a patient falls by monitoring a person’s movements while using privacy-masking solutions ensure their personal privacy is respected.
Video analytics can also help maintain social distancing. By analyzing patients’ and staff’s distance from one another, analytics can provide accurate information about where the highest concentration of people is occurring. This can help healthcare administrators make the best use of resources and help maintain the safety of personnel and patients.
Remote Monitoring IoT
Healthcare providers are also finding ways to use medical-grade sensors to gather data and provide quality telemedicine to patients at home. For instance, a hospital in Boston has adapted its telehealth video system to provide remote monitoring of coronavirus patients recuperating at home, according to NBC News. Patients wear IoT sensor devices that allow doctors to monitor their oxygen level and heart rate remotely. This could help in freeing up hospital beds and saving personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies.
In Hong Kong, researchers and clinicians are using remote monitoring technology to better understand the coronavirus, according to the Wall Street Journal. Using medical-grade sensor devices worn by patients quarantined in their homes or hospitals, researchers can monitor and analyze real-time data, such as body temperature, respiratory rate, blood oxygen level and heart rate. Clinicians can then apply personalized, predictive analytics to provide more effective interventions.
As healthcare facilities are stretched thin by the ongoing pandemic, the Open Platform can continue to play a crucial role in integrations with building control and management, traffic management, and complying with regulations for hygiene, fire, and environmental issues. More importantly, video surveillance technology can provide new solutions for protecting and monitoring patients who need it most.
