There are over 1,46,000 hospitals in India at present. Not every hospital is automated or accoutered with the A-Z of facilities. About 30,000 hospitals fall under the ‘big’ category accommodating over 200 beds and having more or less complete facilities. Making the most of automation technology, hospitals can change the way healthcare is administered. It is about relieving the bottlenecks encountered in the administrative process. It makes sense to use the available automation technology and manage everyday workflow more efficiently, save on energy costs, ensure enhanced security, and assure patient comfort. Hospitals can not only save man-hours but also reduce staff. Automation can make a significant difference for the hospital and its patients and ensure smart health care.

Employee thefts, visitor thefts, threats against patients or staff, crimes of opportunity, hospital reputation – security automation is the most effective solution to such emergencies. Prevention is better than dealing with the emergencies, hence installation of various automated security measures such as fire detectors, smoke alarms, pager alarms and other alarm systems, two-way voice communications, access control systems, door release, photo identification, CCTV, etc.

The necessity to identify every person accurately and the ability to extract detailed information is always felt. This requirement can now be successfully met by use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology which can be integrated into the existing systems which are used for access control and movement monitoring of Assets, patients, doctors, staff,  families, visitors, equipment. It can also be integrated into the patient identification systems. RFID technology can help identify and monitor without human intervention or time delay. It can also be deployed in managing inventories. RFID can be used effectively in managing blood banks, pharmacies, record systems, etc. This enables hospitals to identify and to monitor doctors, staff and patients movements.  Families, visitors movements can be regulated so that they can visit only allowed areas and as per specified timings only.

Integrated use of these systems and linking the operations to a central control system and then to a remote interface ensures enhanced security of the complete hospital premise. Hospital automation leads to employments of fewer guards and thereby saving on manpower costs.

With SMART hospital automation Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is also possible where technologies are designed to manage and monitor a range of health conditions. Such integrated systems provide alerts when health conditions decline, allowing patients, caregivers, and clinicians to intervene and modify treatment plans as needed. Home care technology can play a critical role in keeping patients out of hospitals and at home which allows hospitals to remotely monitor a patient’s vital signs, like heart activity and blood pressure, and be able to flag troubling symptoms before they become medical emergencies.

Hospital Automation protects both patients and staff, as well as maintains energy efficiency. Nowhere is the quality of a building automation system more important than in a hospital. Many think of hospital as just any another building, but a hospital has unique and strict requirements not associated with other buildings. Patients, doctors, nurses, hospital workers and visitors all need to be protected by a highly reliable building automation system. Prevention of infectious and communicable diseases begins with air quality, hence making the building management system one of the most vital automated processes in the building.  Integrated BMS adds tremendous value by eliminating component redundancy.

When we speak about energy savings, significant savings can be enjoyed with hospital automation. Use of occupancy sensor based LED lights and HVAC, energy metering, managing energy usage from a central controller, and more can happen with automation technology.

Priority levels of patients differ according to visits – one-time visit, daily visits, and regular visits. Use of smart cards can help hospitals improve workflow efficiency and keep their patients satisfied. Smart cards are offered to patients at the time of registration, especially for regular or daily visits. These cards ease the complete healthcare process, ensuring the patient’s comfort.

Smart Card Benefits

• Real time virtual appointment and follow up
• Anytime anywhere sharing and access of health records by doctors of patients
• No standing in queues for registration or entry to concerned departments
• Avoid of repeated data entry
• Fast and easy record retrieval
• Enhances patient communication and retention
• OPD and IPD SMS notifications and reminders to patients
• Visitor surveillance and managing visitor-patient visits
• Reduces operational overheads for the hospital
• For smart automation of hospitality, there can be no better solutions provider than Smart Automation Technologies.