The Hindu Business Line : No snoozing on the job

“All the staff on night duty have to mark their presence every hour. While the attendance is updated using the smart card, the biometric sensor serves as an additional authentication layer. The night staff are more active now.”

L.N. Revathy

When Coimbatore-based Consolidated Cybernetics went for smart card technologies, its Managing Director, P R Rangaswami, and his team were considering only the healthcare and educational services for implementation.

And so they went about developing cards with cryptographic capabilities and with multiple functions to support a number of applications.

Rangaswami visualised the use of these cards as an entry pass in educational institutions and textile mills, an identity of sorts with multiple uses and support, such as a debit card within the campus, library ID, Lab ID and attendance register, among others.

The company was, however, surprised by the innovative ideas that its customers came up with for using these cards.

Preventing pilfer

The 30-bed Usha Nursing Home, located on the outskirts of Nagercoil on the Tirunelveli-Nagercoil road, is a rural hospital with facilities that probably surpass some of the clinics in urban areas.

Consequent to the introduction of the smart card in this nursing home (with staff strength of just about 30), its promoter, Thiagarajan, expressed his desire to use these cards in Operation Theatre Management.

Sharing his experience with eWorld, Thiagarajan says, “there is a huge possibility of people stealing expensive life-saving drugs from the Operation Theatre, when a doctor is busy attending to his patient.

If misuse of such drugs can be plugged, both the hospital and the patient will benefit from it. I’m not saying it is happening here, but just wanted to ensure that the system is in place.”

But how can a smart card help?

“The duty doctor draws up a schedule/chart identifying the staff nurse(s) and others who would assist him/her at the time of the surgery and then the administrator takes control.

Only those permitted to enter the theatre can gain access by swiping the card and using the biometric sensor.

If a particular nurse’s name does not figure in the authorisation chart prepared by the doctor, he/she cannot enter the theatre.

The log sheet would reflect the entry and exit time of each of the staff and the number of times he/she entered.

By doing this, we have also been able to keep the area free from infection, else all hospital staff would probably keep walking in and out as the patient’s near and dear ones watch the hectic activity, restlessly.”

Marking attendance by the hour

While Usha Nursing Home looked at using smart cards in this manner, doctors at the Venkateswara Hospital in Salem encountered another problem.

The staff on duty during the night shift invariably dozed off. So what did the hospital do?

“We sought Consolidated Cybernetics’ help. Now, all the staff on night duty have to mark their presence every hour. While the attendance is updated using the smart card, the biometric sensor serves as an additional authentication layer. The night staff are more active now,” says the hospital’s Administrative Director, Murali.

“There is one other customer who uses the biometric smart card in a coffee vending machine. There is no end to the list of smart card use. It’s amazing,” says Rangaswami.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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