What Visitor Information do I Need to Collect at My Hospital?

Healthcare facilities’ needs and requirements for visitor management vary widely. As Security Directors consider what types of information their organization needs to know, there may be additional information they want to know. But those wants should be weighed against how sensitive the visitor data is and the time it takes to process visitors. For example, an electronic visitor management system could capture the driver’s license number of a visitor when their I.D. is scanned, but do you really need that piece of information? If your system is compromised for any reason and data is taken, do you want the responsibility of having driver’s license numbers of all your visitors? There is potential liability for the healthcare facility. In addition, the more information that is captured, the potentially longer it could take to register a visitor, leading to long lines and wait times for visitors to be processed in your lobby. Here is a list of information many healthcare facilities capture with their visitor management system, followed by how it might appear on a visitor badge:

• First and last name.
• The time the visitor arrived.
• Who the visitor is there to see.
• If the visitor is a vendor, his or her company affiliation.
• The visitor’s destination. This could be a floor number, room number, department, and/or building.
• The type of visitor. The guest could be designated as Family, Vendor, Contractor, Volunteer, or just a general Visitor.
• Their expected duration of visit.
• A photo of the visitor.

The above list is what many healthcare facilities use for the average visitor. There are some exceptions when it comes to Intensive Care, Maternity, or other certain departments. Those departments may require that additional information be captured because of the sensitive nature of who they care for and who visits.