Digital Access Cuts Costs and Improves Hospital Security
Hospitals are using digital access systems to reduce administrative workload, strengthen control over restricted areas and improve compliance across complex healthcare environments.
ASSA ABLOY says healthcare facilities can gain operational as well as security benefits by replacing mechanical keys and siloed access processes with digital credentials, wireless locks and centralized management. Its digital access solutions are designed to help hospitals manage staff, contractors and sensitive areas while maintaining audit trails and revoking access when permissions are no longer required.
Modern healthcare sites present unusually complex access challenges. Hospitals must remain open and accessible while protecting medicines, confidential data, specialist equipment and restricted treatment or laboratory areas. Access systems may also need to integrate with CCTV, fire detection and other building systems.
Digital access can reduce the time security teams spend issuing keys, changing permissions and investigating access events.
The compliance dimension is also becoming more important. EU cybersecurity rules under NIS2 cover parts of the healthcare sector and introduce stronger cybersecurity risk-management and resilience requirements, while healthcare operators increasingly need to coordinate those measures with physical access controls and other building security systems.
David Moser, SVP and Head of Digital Access Solutions at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEIA, said digitalizing access can give hospital management stronger tools for security, efficiency and regulatory compliance.
Hospital in France Adds Real-Time Access Control
Centre Hospitalier Métropole Savoie in France introduced ASSA ABLOY Aperio wireless locks integrated with an ARD access management platform.
The system enables individual access permissions, real-time event logging and remote door opening across areas including sensitive offices and drug stores. Because the locks are wireless, the hospital was also able to extend electronic access control without extensive installation work.
Staff now use a single credential programmed with their individual permissions rather than carrying multiple physical keys.
Béatrice Dequidt, Health Executive at CHMS, said having one badge instead of carrying heavy keys had been a major advantage for staff.
Wireless Access Saves Security Teams Time
Hospital MAZ in Zaragoza deployed ASSA ABLOY’s SMARTair wireless access system with real-time management functionality.
Security teams can change permissions centrally rather than visiting individual doors throughout the hospital, reducing the time required for routine access management. Around 625 employees and approximately 100 contractors use personalized smartcards that also serve as staff identification.
Digital access turns routine key management into centrally controlled permissions, audit trails and real-time access decisions.
The system is also mobile-access ready, allowing the hospital to introduce mobile credentials in the future without replacing the existing hardware.
Moser said digitalization gives healthcare organizations an opportunity to strengthen security while reducing costs that are often hidden in everyday workflows.
Programmable Keys Improve Medicine Control
At Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, pharmacy managers replaced a mechanical key system with ASSA ABLOY’s CLIQ programmable key solution.
The system provides audit trails for medicine cabinets, doors and mobile drug trolleys, allowing managers to see who accessed controlled areas and when. Because power is supplied by a battery inside each programmable key, the system can also be retrofitted without wiring individual locks.
Inderjit Singh, Chief Pharmacist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said the system had made it easier for nursing staff to obtain medicines when needed.
“For us, the key return on investment is the quality of service we’re providing,” Singh said.
“For us, the key return on investment is the quality of service we’re providing.”
– Inderjit Singh, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Across the three deployments, the common benefit goes beyond stronger locking. Digital access reduces manual administration, improves traceability and gives healthcare security teams more control over permissions in environments where access requirements change constantly.
