How to enforce healthcare compliance more efficiently and reliably with AI video technology

Healthcare facilities shouldn't leave safety and hygiene compliance to chance but use smart technologies to monitor and manage care operations. Here is how AI video technology can help automate compliance monitoring.

Author: Andy Penfold

Dec 1, 2022 2:53:53 PM

6 min read

TL;DR

CCTV cameras equipped with AI video analytics can help reduce compliance efforts and costs by automating the monitoring of care operations in various fields.
In spd departments, smart cameras enable staff to speed up surgical kit preparation and make the execution of surgeries as reliable and efficient as possible.
Equipped with AI object recognition, cameras in hospitals can also detect whether the staff is wearing the required protective workwear.
The result: Processes are streamlined, and efficiency and quality significantly increase. The privacy of employees and patients is guaranteed at all times.

Reduce the effort to ensure compliance and avoid penalties for violations

Compliance is essential in an industry as highly regulated as healthcare. Violations can not only be costly when litigations and penalties occur but also put patients' health at risk and thus damage the reputation of healthcare facilities. Therefore, operators should not leave this to chance and use all technological options to help stay on top of compliance.

Smart video technology can significantly contribute to higher hygiene and occupational safety compliance in healthcare facilities.

Here are three example use cases to give you an idea of what AI video technology can do.

Use case #1: Automate sterile processing monitoring

Ensuring sterile processing is key to safety, health, and compliance. Still, it also accounts for a significant portion of the overall operating costs and time that could be invested more wisely.

The cost to reprocess a single instrument is $0.71
60,000 instruments supplied per day
Direct costs: $32,000 per day

SPD departments benefit from AI video technology by using CCTV cameras equipped with object recognition to automate the examination of surgical kits for completeness, speeding up preparation and making the execution of surgeries as reliable and efficient as possible.

AI video analytics examines surgery kits for completeness.

Source: Darvis Inc.

Azena-powered cameras can autonomously check surgery sets for completeness by installing a specialized app from Azena's Application Store that brings this capability to the camera. The installation is simple, as you would expect from a smartphone.

Use case #2: Ensure the use of personal protective equipment

Although personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of the best protections against hazardous exposures, many healthcare workers avoid wearing it or do not wear it appropriately and at the right time. Failure to comply with PPE regulations can result in heavy fines for employers.

AI video technology can assist in detecting violations and help ensure compliance. The absence of masks, headgear, gloves, etc., in areas with different hygiene requirements, can be automatically detected and reported to match the appropriate hygiene level.

Rapid Access Control using AI video analytics

Source: Darvis Inc.

AI video technology helps relieve staff who previously had to monitor compliance manually and streamlines processes, for example, to speed up access to areas with strict hygiene requirements.

Use case #3: Protect patients’ privacy

Many countries have strict legal requirements for video surveillance in healthcare facilities. In the U.S., for example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the privacy and security of patient health information (PHI) transmitted and maintained in any form.

AI video analytics can help get more out of video content and respond to events in real-time, but it also helps protect sensitive patient data captured by cameras. Faces of patients, employees, and visitors, as well as sensitive property information such as IDs, entered at access points can be masked and thus made unrecognizable according to legal or individual requirements.

Dynamic privacy masking anonymizes recorded patients, visitors, and staff

Source: TNG Technology Consulting

Dynamic privacy masking provides healthcare operators with a simple tool to deploy video-based monitoring and automation that is 100% compliant with the GDPR.

Worth reading: All you need to know about IoT video surveillance under GDPR

Further reading on AI video technology in hospitals and care facilities