Healthcare facilities face a set of challenges unique to their industry, especially when it comes to successfully managing visitors. Unlike other facility administrators, those in the healthcare industry must manage high volumes of visitors, extended hours, and visitors who simply do not know where they are going. So how are healthcare facility managers expected to manage all of these factors?
The answer: Secure Visitor Management Software
This software is used to screen, badge, and track every visitor or vendor that enters the facility.
Healthcare Facility Best Practices for Visitor Management
1. Implement an Automated System: Many healthcare facilities nowadays are doing away with their old paper guest books and instead opting for automated visitor management systems. These automated systems help improve efficiency, identification, and effectiveness.
2. The System should be Quick and Easy: The whole point of automating visitor management is to increase efficiency. Because of this, the system should be quick and easy, not obtrusive or cumbersome.
3. System Integration: In order for your visitor management software to work efficiently, it is important that it be able to support the HL7 interface control. This will allow the system to track real-time information about patient admissions and discharges, Status Blue for pre-registering approved vendors, and access control integration to provide temporary proximity card access.
4. Support Visitor Information of every Shape and Size: The system should not only support information about the visitor like weight, height, and appearance, but it should also track who the guest is visiting, the expected length of stay, and much more.
5. Screening Unwanted Visitors: Many hospitals want the ability to screen unwanted visitors, as well, such as those on the state’s sex offender database or a hospital-created watch list of undesirable visitors.
6. Automatic Alerts: These types of alerts notify administrators when protocol has been breached.
7. The System should be Flexible: Each healthcare facility differs from the next. Because of this, visitor management software needs to be flexible.
8. Allow for the creation of Long-Term Visitor Badges: If guest will be visiting a patient frequently over a long period of time, a long-term visitor badge may make the most sense. By using a barcodes on these badges, the guest can be checked in and out with a simple barcode scan.
9. Customization: The best system will allow for a number of different vistor badges depending on a set list of criteria.
10. Self-Registration Kiosks: Visitor management systems can also be set up as kiosks for self-registration, eliminating lobby congestion.
For any further questions on Visitor Management in Healthcare Facilities, simply contact ARK Systems at 1-800-995-0189 or click here today.
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Source: 10 Healthcare Facility Best Practices for Visitor Management