Three ways healthcare operations can increase patient privacy, experience and costs with smart cameras

● AI-enabled smart cameras can improve patient and employee experience, while reducing risk-related costs
● Smart cameras offer real-time detection of fallen patients and patient leave detection in memory care units
● Enhanced privacy masking increases patient and employee privacy, while enabling vital monitoring of high-risk patients

April 26th, 2021 — In the past year, hospitals, elder-care and other healthcare facilities have found themselves overwhelmed with new patients, COVID-19 regulations and other side effects of the pandemic. As efforts focused on the mitigation of pandemic health risks for both patients and staff, routine and elective procedures were halted, only to seesaw back and forth as conditions shifted around the globe. Now, decision-makers for healthcare facilities find themselves in search of solutions to help navigate the new healthcare landscape and protect bottom lines.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a critical tool in revolutionizing critical disease treatments, as well as research and development methods, but it now is also transforming healthcare operations. Security & Safety Things (S&ST) offers a platform for smart cameras that enables the cameras to run a variety of different applications to perform different functions, much like a smart phone. When equipped with AI-enabled video analytics, these cameras are helping healthcare facility operators more efficiently manage day to day operations, automate staff intensive processes, and provide the ability to achieve more efficient, cost-effective operations for a more robust bottom line.

Privacy masking emphasizes patient anonymity

Compliance with patient privacy regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR is top-of-mind for many medical facilities. Smart video analytics can deploy privacy mask applications to hide a customizable set of objects within the camera’s field of view, such as faces or equipment such as medical monitors, laptops or keyboards – devices where sensitive health data is often displayed. Privacy masking is particularly vital in elder-care facilities and memory care units, where enhanced monitoring of elderly and dementia patients is crucial to their safety, without violating privacy.

Increased patient and resident safety

The ability to detect spills and foreign objects in hallways and other highly trafficked areas contributes greatly to decreasing risk of patient harm from slips/falls. Smart cameras reduce these occurrences by detecting spills or other hazards at the time of occurrence, enabling immediate action from staff. Simultaneously, applications can be utilized for fall detection and allow IoT cameras to monitor and analyze patient, visitor and staff behavior to determine whether a person stands upright, lies on the floor or remains seated. These analytics allow staff to be alerted in case of unusual behavior – making every walk from bed to toilet much safer, particularly for elderly and disabled patients.

Increase efficiency in emergency departments and decrease waiting times

A major pain point in many medical facilities is quick access to emergency departments and overall chokepoints in patient admittance. When connected to patient admission and registration systems, smart cameras equipped with vehicle license plate recognition apps can automatically log arrival times, license plate numbers and patients – increasing operational speed and quality of patient admittance. For large hospitals and busy emergency access points, smart cameras can detect obstructions in driveways, which left unattended could cost approaching ambulances critical seconds. These same cameras offer hospital staff insights into how they can improve patient intake by detecting issues with vehicle and human traffic flow.

Learn more about Security & Safety Things and its open IoT platform for smart cameras: https://www.securityandsafetythings.com. More information on the healthcare video analytic applications available from S&ST’s Marketplace Application Store can be found here.

Security & Safety Things and BOSCH
Security & Safety Things is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH and is part of Bosch’s strategic development of new digital growth markets. In the future, Security & Safety Things wants to continuously accelerate the expansion of its global ecosystem through external partners.

For press enquiries:

Fabio Marti, Security and Safety Things
Mobile +49 172 2497100
Fabio.Marti@de.bosch.com

Andrea Gural, Eclipse Media Group on behalf of Security and Safety Things
Mobile +1 207 233 7507
agural@eclipsemediagroup.net

Security and Safety Things GmbH)

Security & Safety Things operates an open IoT platform that connects camera manufacturers, SoC providers, application developers, VMS providers, and systems integrators. Its goal is to accelerate the speed of innovation for security cameras and applications that make use of AI and computer vision. To achieve this, the company offers a free and open operating system for security cameras, a development tool kit for app developers and a device management portal as well as an application store for integrators. Security & Safety Things GmbH is based in Munich, Germany and has been on the market since September 2018.

Bosch Group (Robert Bosch GmbH)

As a leading IoT company, the Bosch Group offers innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected manufacturing. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to deliver innovations for a connected life. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiary and regional companies in 60 countries.