With a solution that is new throughout Germany, long waiting times at the entrance and overloading of staff in hospitals are a thing of the past. In cooperation with the access lock manufacturer Wanzl, we have developed a completely new type of automated entry procedure for visitors and patients.
Between overworked hospital staff and long queues
Visiting family and friends during their hospital stay is very important for patients. The daily number of visitors to the hospital is many times higher than the number of new inpatients. For the hospital staff, the time and organizational effort required to cope with day visitors and outpatients is enormous. Queues at the entrances and in the ambulance cannot be avoided at peak times. At the same time, it is this large number of visitors who get a picture of the hospital and its services on a daily basis and thus significantly influence the image of a hospital. It is not uncommon for patients to have been visitors there before choosing the clinic. But so far most of the visitors to the hospital are anonymous.
The admission process was completely rethought
In order to relieve the staff at the hospital entrance and to reduce the waiting times for visitors, we have teamed up with the manufacturer of access gates, the company Wanzl, and developed a new automatic entry solution for hospital visitors. The combination of PLANFOX visit management and Wanzl Galaxy Protect is the first of its kind in Germany. This will make visiting the hospital easier and more efficient for everyone involved in the future.
Visitors and ambulance patients can conveniently register online from home, on the go or on site using any device in an admission portal. You will then receive a QR code that can be scanned in at the self-check-in locks in the hospital’s access area.
In a split second, the system connected to the HIS decrypts the data from the QR code and compares it with the configured admission regulations. This automatically controls whether the doors open. The stored rules can be individually adapted for each hospital, so that changes to the visiting regulations can be reacted to quickly and easily. In addition, specific information can be shown to the visitor via displays, for example his route in the hospital.
The hospital staff saves valuable time for recording and filing visit and patient data, since all scanned data is digitally saved and documented in compliance with data protection regulations.
Evaluations of visitor flows to optimize personnel deployment are possible at any time. Studies have shown that if only every fifth visitor pre-registers online, the queue is halved.
And finally, there is increased safety for patients and staff, as access to the hospital is controlled.
Successful implementation in practice
The new inlet solution was installed for the first time across Germany in spring 2021 at the Hessing clinics in Augsburg. In addition to the QR code scan and the automatic comparison with the visit regulations, further smart functions can be integrated at the entry point. In Augsburg, sensors and image recognition are integrated to implement a hygiene concept. The Galaxy Gate Protect also automatically checks body temperature, hand disinfection and compliance with the mask requirement before access.
Thilo Bausback, economic and strategic director for the orthopedic specialist clinics of the Hessing Foundation Augsburg, reports: “With the Galaxy Gate Protect we have found a solution that helps our employees to use their strength where it is most needed: namely at patient care. In addition, we reduce the risk of infection and create trust in our security concept for employees, visitors and patients alike. “
Access solution also further developed in a post-pandemic way
The pandemic has shown that automating building access in clinics has many advantages. The Hessing clinics count up to 100,000 contacts annually. For this reason, work is already being carried out on the further digitization of the outpatient registration processes for patients. Patients currently visit the clinic up to three times on average. They report to reception just as often. That will change in the future. Bausback reports: “After the initial admission, the follow-up visits are made much easier. All patients receive a clearly identifiable registration. This enables automatic fast check-in. Patients authenticate themselves at the entrance, for example with a QR code issued by us, and receive a message on the screen to go directly to their assigned treatment area. There is no need to go to the registration desk. This is how we streamline registration processes. The length of stay can also be tracked. We recognize which areas in the house are particularly busy and when. With the evaluation of this data, waiting times can be shortened noticeably and we can optimize the deployment of staff at the same time. “
