The healthcare industry faces significant challenges in preventing the spread of coronavirus and other highly infectious diseases. Hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities are turning to technology for an extra layer of security in their patient care model and prevention strategy, and it’s saving lives.
While technology innovations in the healthcare industry typically center around medical equipment and devices, footfall counting and analytics are now finding their place among these technologies as a critical element in preventing fatalities.
This blog article will focus on the role that footfall counting and analytics play in protecting healthcare providers' and patients' health and safety and optimizing operations.
How do footfall counting and analytics work?
You don’t need to be a doctor to know that healthcare facilities like hospitals receive a lot of foot traffic every day. From staff to patients to visitors, people are coming in and out 24 hours a day.
Footfall counting sensors can be placed at the entrance and exit of healthcare facilities and above reception areas and other strategic areas to measure the number of people inside, the flow of traffic, traffic patterns, dwell zones, and even distance between people at any time. It helps healthcare facilities better understand how their facilities are used and how to optimize operations, visitor experience, and health and safety protocols.
Data collected from the footfall counting device can be analyzed using smart software to gain more in-depth insight into data to make more informed decisions. BI analytics platforms, like Vemcount, allow users to customize a dashboard with critical KPIs and generate reports on blended data that matters most.
4 ways healthcare facilities are using footfall counting to optimize operations and keep people safe
Whether it's a hospital or a doctor’s office or a pharmacy, footfall counters are transforming the healthcare industry. Here’s how:
1️⃣ Social distancing and mask-wearing detection
The most effective prevention measures against the spread of the virus are maintaining social distance and mask-wearing. In busy healthcare facilities, it can be challenging to manage these measures without the help of technology.
Footfall counting sensors with 3D cameras can measure the distance between people and send automatic alerts when a safe distance is breached. Using AI functionality, those without masks can also be detected for staff to intervene.
Notifications can also easily be set up to alert staff when, for example, the occupancy of a particular area reaches/surpasses a predetermined volume.
2️⃣ Healthcare facility layout optimization
Each person’s journey in a healthcare facility can be tracked and analyzed to identify the most used routes, entrances and exits, and dwell time in certain areas.
Over a selected period, you can analyze the data in multiple ways, including generating a heat map identifying trends and patterns.
With this information, you can focus on the busiest areas and implement extra safety measures and redirect traffic when certain areas become congested or too crowded.
3️⃣ Enhanced service levels
By having a bird’s eye view of a healthcare facility, and the flow of traffic throughout the facility, healthcare staff are able to identify where service levels are not meeting demand.
Suppose long queues are forming and patients or visitors are not being attended to. In that case, a healthcare footfall solution can alert you in real-time for you to deploy staff and resources where necessary.
You will also gain deeper insights into the most popular areas with the highest footfall, enabling you to place safe seating areas or vending machines in strategic places.
4️⃣ Optimize facility management and resource allocation
Data from a healthcare facility door counter accurately identify the busiest and most quiet times of the day, week, month, and even year. This allows healthcare facilities to schedule staff rosters and allocate resources, more efficiently reducing costs as a result.
Suppose your healthcare facility is considering implementing a footfall counter and analytics system. In that case, you are on the path to improving your staff and patients' safety, optimizing operations, and saving money.
👣 Vemcount is a leading footfall counting and analytics solution that can be customized for any industry.
Give us a calltoday to discuss your needs.
