By Healthcare Facilities Today

Even though the technological advances available through IP video surveillance are significant, entirely retrofitting an existing surveillance installation with the technology can be cost prohibitive for most healthcare facilities. The answer to capturing the benefit while mitigating the cost is through hybrid systems that marry existing analog equipment with new IP equipment, says an article in Campus Safety magazine.

Video surveillance becomes increasingly important as crimes increase in hospitals and medical centers. Certain crimes, such as homicides and assaults, increased by 300 percent from 2005 to 2010, according to a Joint Commission report cited. The emergency department is especially vulnerable to crime and violence due to the population it serves, which includes a higher percentage of mental health patients or those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Hybrid video systems allow more costly IP assets to be deployed where they count, while legacy analog equipment can be redeployed to lower priority areas. A hybrid system can combine analog and IP video inputs, can be scaled to hundreds of cameras, and improves the controllability of individual cameras. Hybrid systems also make it easier to scale up or down, as the security needs of the campus shift, says the article.

Read the article.