Access Control for Assisted Living and Nursing Homes

Assisted Living and Nursing Homes

Assisted living and nursing homes are unique facilities when it comes to access control. Pairing residential accommodations with healthcare — whether it’s focused on disabled individuals who do or do not choose to live independently, or elderly patients who require convalescent care — presents a complex set of requirements. These facilities are where healthcare providers devote themselves to helping people who need medical attention; but there’s also the need to protect against unauthorized access, theft of medications, and patient wandering. At the same time, these communities must maintain a level of accessibility and openness. Plus, the onset of COVID-19 has introduced new challenges related to patient monitoring, reducing the spread of infection, and maintaining a separation between those who have contracted the virus and those who have not.

Scalable, Web-Based Telephone Entry

Identiv’s intelligent, integrated Enterphone family of products is a feature-rich telephone entry system that can scale to care facilities of any size, protecting residents and staff from unauthorized access. The systems are encrypted, securing staff, resident, and visitor information, and are also incredibly rugged, easily withstanding excessive use day after day. Enterphone products are configurable and administered using a common web-based browser, allowing easy remote programming and management, multi-language capabilities, and personalized displays. Features like full access, view-only, and no-access administrative permissions, in addition to exportable user-selectable event history, allow facility staff to customize security and easily pull reports to track who is coming and going.

Hands-Free, Touchless Access

With the threat of COVID-19 still genuine, frictionless, hands-free solutions are a crucial part of any organization’s efforts to create a healthier, more hygienic environment, and healthcare facilities are no exception. Identiv’s MobilisID leverages Bluetooth and capacitive technologies to allow for complete frictionless access. Loaded onto a user’s smart device, the mobile application acts as a physical credential. A doctor or nursing staff can keep their mobile device in their pocket, then wave their hand near the reader, and the door unlocks. This is especially useful in care facilities where frictionless solutions can streamline operational efficiencies. Users are also less likely to lose their phone than they are a traditional access control card, making this a far more secure option that takes advantage of the constant connectivity in today’s world, while simultaneously reducing touchpoints and, in turn, the risk of spreading infection. MobilisID can also integrate with ADA-compliant automatic door hardware for a totally touchless solution.

Access Control as a Service

When it comes to budgets, assisted living and nursing homes need to keep their costs to a minimum. But maintaining affordability shouldn’t mean these critical care facilities have to sacrifice security. In today’s connected world, the flexibility of the cloud facilitates access control-as-a-service (ACaaS), which enables users to take advantage of the latest technologies in access control with lower upfront and infrastructural costs. With Identiv’s Hirsch Velocity Cirrus, instead of purchasing the wide array of infrastructure and technologies needed to support an access control system, healthcare facilities can leverage off-site storage and processing capabilities and pay for just the amount that they need as a subscription-style operational expenditure.