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The Remedy for Healthcare Security: How ProdataKey Protects Medical Facilities

Healthcare security whitepaper cover shows a hospital sign, a nurse using a tablet, and two medical staff talking on stairs. Text: pdk logo. The Remedy for Healthcare Security: How PDK protects medical facilities

Delivering exceptional patient care starts with a protected environment where safety and efficiency can work hand-in-hand. Many healthcare facilities operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with patients, staff, and visitors constantly moving throughout critical areas. These areas are home to high-value equipment and pharmaceutical supplies that need to be secured at all times.


Hospital corridor: Nurses in blue and white uniforms walk. A staff member pushes a wheelchair, and another moves a bed, creating a busy, focused scene.

In addition, healthcare facilities need to safeguard patient information in compliance with standards set out in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). All of this compliance and protection must take place effectively without compromising on patient care and critical medical services.


The following white paper dives into the security needs of healthcare facilities, and explores the various solutions that ProdataKey (PDK) provides through its cloud-based access control technologies. 


The Healthcare Landscape Today

Healthcare facilities today take many forms, from outpatient clinics and large-scale hospitals to long-term care homes and diagnostic laboratories. Despite their varying functions, all healthcare facilities share a common goal: supporting patient wellbeing. Achieving that goal requires far more than skilled medical professionals and treatment technologies. It also demands that spaces remain safe, secure, and protected from interference. 


Nurse in blue scrubs holds a laptop, speaking to an elderly woman in a medical setting. A man in plaid stands at the reception.

In a space intently focused on providing critical medical care, unnecessary stress from factors like patient and property safety can disrupt critical operations. Additionally, in healthcare spaces where security issues abound, patients may begin to lose trust in the very facility they rely on for their own wellbeing and medical care. Luckily, access control providers like PDK are equipped to handle any and all physical security threats in healthcare spaces. 


The Largest Security Threats to Healthcare Today 

Healthcare facilities face numerous security challenges introduced by the unique nature of medical operations. While administering medical care, security administrators also need to ensure that visitors, staff, and critical resources are protected at all times.


This section will dive into three notable security issues faced by healthcare facilities today: data breaches, visitor influxes, and theft. 


Data Breaches

Healthcare facilities are home to many sensitive documents, like personal records, medical histories, financial information, and more.


Woman in blue scrubs on the phone, reviewing documents at a desk in a bright office. A computer and files are visible. Focused mood.

These documents (existing in both physical and digital forms) need to be secured at all times, otherwise facilities are at risk of data breaches. This relies not only on digital safeguards, like reliable firewalls, but also on secured physical entrances to rooms where information is stored.


When data breaches occur, they can be very costly to an organization. This is especially true for the healthcare industry, which has the highest average cost per data breach–nearing an average of $10 million, according IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report. 


Bar chart showing healthcare with highest data breach cost in 2024, followed by financial, industrial, tech, and energy sectors in USD.

In their 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon identified a total of 1,367 digital security incidents that occurred in healthcare facilities in 2024. Of those 1,367 incidents, an estimated 70% resulted from internal threats. Weak physical access control systems can enable internal actors to access a critical space without the proper authorization, giving them the chance to view, distribute, or tamper with sensitive information–all of which would directly violate HIPAA requirements. And without proper door monitoring, finding who is at fault for an incident can be difficult. 


Visitor Influx

Healthcare facilities are spaces that welcome countless visitors as people seek medical care on a 24/7 basis. Over time, the amount of people visiting medical facilities has steadily risen. A 2021 report from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals this upward trend, with the percentage of American adults making an annual visit to the emergency department rising from 19.6% in 1997 to 21.7% in 2019.


Medical team pushes a patient on a stretcher in a hospital. Text shows the ER visit rate: 19.6% (1997) to 21.7% (2019).

 While the number of medical facility visits is on the rise, the same cannot be said for the use of smart technology to facilitate these visits. According to the 2024 State of Healthcare Security Report from HID, an estimated 38% of healthcare facilities still use pen and paper to manage their influx of visitors on a daily basis. Without a smart, streamlined system to confirm identities or manage visitor movement, healthcare facilities risk exposing sensitive areas to individuals who may have no authorization to be there.


Theft

The final major security issue faced by healthcare facilities today is theft, ranging from stolen medications to state-of-the-art technology. According to a 2023 report from Safety Zone, roughly 65% of healthcare facilities have reported theft incidents on their premises–demonstrating just how bad this issue has become. 

Average prices of medical equipment: Dental $7501, Ophthalmology $8012, Surgical $6098, Obstetrics $2991, Emergency $3380, Anesthetic $3293.

Equipment theft can place significant financial burdens on healthcare facilities, with the average price of medical instruments ranging from a minimum of $2,300 (respiratory devices) to upwards of $8,000 (ophthalmology tools), according to Medilex LLC. For example, a medical center in California’s Bay Area reported nearly 400 missing items over a five year period, with the estimated cost of all these missing items totaling over $11 million. 


In order to deter theft and avoid the accompanying financial burdens, medical facilities can benefit from the implementation of access control in high-risk areas, like pharmacies, laboratories, and equipment storage areas. 


ProdataKey’s Intuitive Solutions for Healthcare 

As threats towards healthcare facilities become more prominent, reliable security technologies are a necessity. ProdataKey’s cloud-based access control solutions are designed to help healthcare organizations guarantee safety without compromising on workflows or the quality of the medical care provided. For patients, visitors, medical professionals, volunteers, and security personnel alike, PDK’s solutions make life in healthcare spaces safer than ever.


Smart and Secure Access

With the user-friendly PDK.io platform, ProdataKey empowers healthcare administrators to implement customizable access rules, ensuring that only authorized personnel are able to enter specific areas.


A nurse in blue scrubs and stethoscope uses a tablet in a bright hospital corridor. Another nurse walks away. Calm, focused atmosphere.

This greatly helps to mitigate the threats of theft and data breaches. Additionally, PDK offers advanced reporting capabilities, making it easier than ever for security administrators to generate detailed audit trails. This can come in handy in the event that a theft or data breach occurred, wherein administrators can revisit their access reports in PDK.io to see who accessed the given space at the exact time of the incident. 

PDK Controllers receiving automatic updates

In addition to easy-to-use software, ProdataKey’s hardware also promises a seamless access experience without excessive maintenance. All of PDK’s head-end units and door controllers receive automatic updates, meaning that the technology only gets stronger over time.


70% of hospitals use outdated firmware in security devices.

This is especially helpful in the healthcare industry, where an estimated 70% of hospitals currently run outdated firmware in their security devices (according to a report from SecuriThings). By keeping devices consistently up-to-date, ProdataKey guarantees that critical safeguards remain active without requiring any manual updating. This saves healthcare organizations critical time and money that can instead be utilized to provide the best medical care possible.


Visitor Management

Without a comprehensive system to manage an influx of patients, visitors, and staff, healthcare facilities can run into notable security vulnerabilities on a daily basis. To help address the need for streamlined visitor management, ProdataKey excitedly integrates with platforms such as Savance and LobbyTECH. These integrations encourage healthcare providers to develop more robust and efficient visitor check-in procedures.


Healthcare worker in blue scrubs pushes elderly woman in wheelchair toward a receptionist at a wooden desk in a clinic lobby.

Using these intuitive visitor management systems, healthcare providers can easily pre-register and pre-approve incoming visitors, making their on-site arrival as seamless as possible. Facilities can easily collect critical information, such as health symptoms, medical history, personal information, and more.


Additionally, kiosks from Savance and LobbyTECH can be customized to include technologies like temperature sensors, automatically screening visitors for any concerning symptoms before they move further into the space.


Doctor holds a tablet showing patient info in a visitor management integration in a clinic. Two people sit in the background.

Information entered into integrated visitor management systems can be directly transferred into PDK.io, eliminating the need to manually alternate between databases. This makes it easier than ever to track visitor entry information. And in the instance where administrators need to find when an individual was last in the building, there’s no need to dig through paper logs–they can simply search for that information directly through the unified interface.


Incident Response

Quick and efficient action is required when emergencies arise in healthcare settings. When an incident occurs, security administrators need to address the issue while simultaneously ensuring that all life and property is being properly secured.


Hands holding a phone with "system lockdown" text above in red and gray.

To achieve this, ProdataKey makes it easy to program system lockdowns in PDK.io–and for more advanced incident response procedures, PDK integrates with tools like Aegix, Centegix, and Singlewire Informacast. These integrations allow facilities to alert authorities, report missing people, get real-time updates, and more–all from one unified platform.


In addition to emergency response tools, PDK also empowers healthcare facilities to respond to incidents with the help of integrated surveillance tools. Integrating cloud-based access control and video surveillance allows for features like event bookmarking, soft triggers, real-time alerts, and more.

PDK io on mobile phone with video surveillance partners cameras in the foreground. Background is a hospital hallway

When an instance of theft occurs, for example, security administrators can utilize integrated access logs and surveillance footage to get a clear view of what happened. Using this information, security personnel can address the theft accordingly, with as much information at their disposal as possible.


Elevating Healthcare Security with PDK

Effective access control in healthcare facilities involves more than preventing unauthorized entry–it’s about upholding the core mission of care. When medical spaces are secure, everyday operations run more smoothly. Equipment is stored and monitored properly, patient data remains secure, visitors are welcomed with ease, and staff can move throughout the facility without issue. 

Hospital room with an empty bed, medical equipment, and a monitor. Glass door labeled "2" opens to a hallway

ProdataKey supports healthcare providers by offering a solution that promises enhanced security on all levels. From PDK’s automatic updates to user-friendly reporting and customized access rules, creating the perfect access control system for a facility is easier than ever.


And with integrations that streamline visitor management and incident responses, PDK works with the best-of-the-best security providers to keep healthcare facilities safe each and every day. By protecting the places where healing happens, ProdataKey empowers healthcare teams to focus on what they do best: saving lives and keeping people healthy.


PDK Remedy for Healthcare Security Cover

ProdataKey (PDK) is a team of security integrators with decades of hands-on, in-the-field experience. PDK believes that the best technology is created by professionals who know what it takes to secure a facility properly and provide the end-user with a solution that instills confidence and safety.


PDK is passionate about creating technology to enhance the security, safety, and overall experience of both the professionals installing electronic access control and those that live with and use the system. PDK continues to create technology every day to enhance its products and the products of its technology partners.


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