Introducing Verkada Guest for Healthcare: Simplify Visitor Management With EMR Integration

More than 1.3 million visitors have checked into a building with Verkada Guest in the two years since we launched our visitor management solution. From school districts to corporate offices and even manufacturing facilities, organizations have seen how Verkada Guest streamlines check-in and strengthens security.

We know that what works well in corporate or school settings doesn’t always translate into other industries, especially healthcare, where customers have unique workflows and regulatory requirements. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Guest for Healthcare, a new user experience within Verkada Guest designed for hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities. Healthcare organizations can now harness the power of Verkada Guest to simplify front desk operations, protect patients and staff, and create a frictionless visitor experience — all while respecting patient privacy. 

Simplify Front Desk Operations

Front desk employees often juggle multiple applications and workflows for visitor management. They might use one system to log visitors, then move to search their electronic medical records system (EMR) for the relevant patient and manually enter details into yet another program for badge printing. On top of that, they often need to contact the specific care unit to notify them and check the patient’s approved visitor list.

With Verkada Guest for Healthcare, all it takes is a few clicks. Staff can simply hit “New Guest,” have the visitor scan their ID on an iPad, and enter the name of the patient they’re visiting.

Verkada Guest will automatically surface relevant patient information from your EMR system*, screen the visitor against known offender databases, if desired, and check if they’re on the patient’s approve/deny list. If the visitor is admitted, their custom badge prints instantly and a notification is sent to the relevant hospital personnel. Verkada Guest also helps enforce visitation guidelines by tracking active visitors for each patient. 

Verkada Guest supports secondary checkpoints at restricted units like ICUs and NICUs: They can see incoming visitors who have checked in and verify their identity by scanning their ID or badge QR code upon arrival.

Guest for Healthcare was built with patient privacy in mind. During the check-in process, front desk employees see the minimal amount of patient information necessary to complete the check-in and cannot access information about patients marked as confidential in their EMR system.

Protect Patients and Staff

We know from our own research that healthcare workers are concerned about their safety on the job. According to the 2023 Verkada Workplace Safety Survey, 54% of healthcare workers say they are likely to resign in the next 12 months if physical safety in the workplace does not improve soon.

With Verkada Guest, hospitals can protect staff and patients by stopping unwanted visitors at the door. Hospitals can also incorporate a security screen into the check-in process, which instantly checks visitors against registered sex offender lists and/or criminal databases. Within seconds, potential matches are shared with front desk staff for review, and once confirmed, matches can be denied access, and security can be alerted via text message.

With Guest, staff have visibility into who is on site with searchable visitor logs. And because Guest natively integrates with Verkada’s cameras and access control, security teams can instantly view visitor movement through the hospital and control access to key areas. 

In the event of an incident, security can easily pull up all recent sightings of the visitor. They can prevent future incidents by adding the visitor to patient-specific, site-specific and global deny lists or marking them as a person of interest, which triggers an alert whenever any camera across your facilities detects a probabilistic match to that person’s facial characteristics.

Create a Frictionless Visitor Experience

While safety and security are paramount, the check-in experience is the first impression a visitor has with your organization — and creating a frictionless experience matters. Verkada Guest enables healthcare organizations to deliver a modern and delightful visitor experience from arrival to departure.

With Verkada Guest, visitors are greeted with a warm welcome screen that is branded with your logo and color scheme. Once the front desk employee initiates the check-in process, ID scanning and document signing can be done seamlessly on the iPad — no more pen and paper.

After checking in, visitors can receive custom welcome instructions and a self sign-out link via email or text. Same-day returning visitors can quickly check in by scanning their badge QR code, saving time for both them and your staff.

Ready To Learn More?

Guest for Healthcare is available today in beta. To get started, contact your Verkada sales representative or email [email protected]. For more information, download the Guest for Healthcare Overview.

*Verkada Guest can integrate with any EMR system that uses the HL7 standard