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Our practice is contemplating installing video surveillance cameras for security purposes. My thoughts are to install at the entryway, in the waiting room (facing reception window), inside the reception area, in the main hallway, the file room containing the server, and the sample room. I don't feel that any of those areas infringe on patient privacy or violate HIPAA. I'd appreciate any feedback on this matter.

Thanks,
Dean
Emmanuel Family Practice Associates

I think these are reasonable. Another area might be the parking lot if you can get a camera there. I have cameras in the front office, hallway and reception areas as well as the parking lot.

I think any in area that is accessible to the public (i.e.: waiting room or hallway), there is no "expectation of privacy". Other areas are not patient accessible, and the staff should be aware that security surveillance is being conducted.

Many practices are posting notices about video surveillance.

It should fine. In my residency program we had them in the exam rooms and had a PhD watch them so he could comment on our social interaction with patients. He would then take clips to show during morning report sometimes. I'm sure the patients had to sign a waiver.

If you put them outside, make sure they are mounted in a truly inaccessible area. Mine was knocked down by someone with a long stick....right before he stole my air conditioner

That's what you get for living in a high crime area like Southern Indiana. You should come to Baltimore. No one uses a long stick to knock down our cameras.

Hey.....there is pride in being in one of the highest meth busting areas of the nation!!!

No, in Baltimore, they would just shoot out the camera!
A stick is so old school.........

"Leslie
Hospital Employed Physician Who Misses Air Conditioner."

Dave
FP

Actually, I had three stolen...one stolen on one occasion, replaced that, then that one and the other one stolen on another occasion When the surveillance camera failed to deter the theifs, I had the air conditioners moved so they faced the parking lot of McDonalds. That seems to have worked so far!

Hahaha, Dave....finally got it!!

Hahaha, Dave, finally got it!

http://cartome.org/panopticon1.htm

Theory of Surveillance: The PANOPTICON

The PANOPTICON was proposed as a model prison by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), a Utilitarian philosopher and theorist of British legal reform.

The Panopticon ("all-seeing") functioned as a round-the-clock surveillance machine. Its design ensured that no prisoner could ever see the 'inspector' who conducted surveillance from the privileged central location within the radial configuration. The prisoner could never know when he was being surveilled -- mental uncertainty that in itself would prove to be a crucial instrument of discipline.

French philosopher Michel Foucault described the implications of 'Panopticism' in his 1975 work Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison --

"Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection of power should tend to render its actual exercise unnecessary; that this architectural apparatus should be a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent of the person who exercises it; in short, that the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers. To achieve this, it is at once too much and too little that the prisoner should be constantly observed by an inspector: too little, for what matters is that he knows himself to be observed; too much, because he has no need in fact of being so. In view of this, Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable.

ETC!

Thanks to everyone for their time an input. Our office is in a nice area, but I am always thinking of "What if" scenarios.

Now, having asked about having a video system, would anyone be willing to share models/configuration that work for them. I get MANY reviews online, but I'm prefer to hear from a peer...the IT guy that has to deal with it all.

As always, you are the best! Thank you in advance.

Dean

I recently installed a Swann 8 channel video system at home. It works well, very flexible as to setting up alarms. It took a while with tech support to configure it however.

Use an IP Camera with BlueIris would be my recommendation. You don't need to add any special DVRs. You can even record straight to NAS with some of the cameras. We run our DVR on a virtual machine here. Server is already on 24/7 with all the good stuff like UPS and RAID.

Wouldn't it be set up that it records only when it senses something in its view? If not, it would take up a lot of TBs?

You can choose a multitude of different settings. Motion recording, continuous recording, interval recording, hotspot recording. Combinations of the aforementioned. E.g. motion recording with regular interval recording. The amount of space consumed is proportional to the quality of camera selected. There are no analog cameras that can match the worst megapixel cameras. If you can't make anything out then the camera is pretty much useless.

Just as an example. I have 6 IP Cameras ranging from VGA to 2MP quality. A 500GB hard drive gives me about 1.5 months of video using the Motion with regular interval. I don't have a need for more than that. Just motion would give me more space. Space is cheap.

I like to use Dahua, Hiksvision, and Vivotek for high definition and Foscam if I'm on a budget. Those foscams have PTZ and audio for 70 bucks.

We also have the issue of people stealing or busting the cameras. We use dummy cameras that are easily accessible. ($5 on Amazon) Most thieves/vandals will break those instead of the real cameras. Dome cameras are more tamper resistant than bullet cameras. Look for things like Vandal Proof in the descriptions.