Episode 6: How AI and Cameras can make Hospitals Safer

Episode Summary

What’s the best way to leverage new AI-driven technological advances to improve patient care and safety? The answer is so straightforward that it’s a shock more healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) don’t. But SaaS-based vision AI pioneer IntelliSee is on a mission to change that.

IntelliSee leverages existing camera systems across healthcare facilities and builds AI-driven hardware to detect real-time threats with an integrated automated alert system. But it’s not all smooth sailing: “You’d be surprised at the number of healthcare facilities that do not have Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, or do not have working cameras,” IntelliSee CCO Maureen Pajerski says.

IntelliSee aims to raise the standard of patient safety and security in some of the toughest work environments in the country — which often rate as more violent in terms of physical assaults than jails. The job of constantly monitoring HDOs is best fulfilled as a partnership between AI and humans.

And while IntelliSee is a young company, humanity is similarly new to facing the challenges of AI. “This space reminds me of the early internet days when there were hundreds of players all battling it out,” Maureen says. “And it's a race to the customer — because whoever gets the best data gets a smarter and better platform.”

Featured on the Episode

Name: Maureen Pajerski

What she does: As CCO of IoT solutions company IntelliSee, Maureen brings over two decades of experience in sales and marketing leadership to help power the pairing of advanced vision AI with existing security camera infrastructure.

Organization: IntelliSee

Words of wisdom: “If towards the end of my career, I can help prevent — or mitigate the damage of — just one single horrific active shooter event, it’s all worth it. That mission is what has driven me. Additionally, AI is such a cool technology, and I firmly believe it’s going to change our world the same way the Industrial Revolution changed it.”

Connect: LinkedIn

Key Points

Top Takeaways from this Episode

• Like any technology, vision AI can be used for good or bad. People afraid of the so-called singularity (where AI supersedes human intelligence) frequently neglect the fact that most AI models exist in silos. Individual models — including language, knowledge, reasoning, and perception — fulfill different functions and serve different purposes. It’s up to us to decide how to use specific models for desired ends. Broadly categorized in a perception model of AI, vision AI developers can easily leverage existing infrastructure to improve security.

• AI cameras will soon be everywhere — HDOs need to be proactive. Too many healthcare facilities lack IP (or even working) cameras, which already renders them a poor fit for the solution offered by IntelliSee. Many rely on outdated analog equipment, which is inadequate for workplaces that are frequently rated as more violent than jails in terms of physical assaults. Just as schools can’t (and shouldn’t) fight the fact that cameras are today an inevitable part of classrooms thanks to the number of devices present, HDOs should embrace the potential to increase patient care, security and safety with vision AI.

• Far from the be-all-and-end-all solution, AI is one single layer of security. Security is all about layers, Maureen emphasizes. She admits that while IntelliSee is a great, even necessary layer, it can still be fooled. AI is exponentially better than humans at doing the boring work of monitoring multiple cameras — which is impossible for humans at scale anyway. But it also doesn’t understand object permanence like a human child can. AI is one part of a collaboration with human beings, and that partnership is the real changemaker.

Episode Insights

[00:00] I spy AI: As a young, well-funded company, IntelliSee leverages existing cameras for its SaaS solution — covering slips and falls all the way up to active shooter scenarios — because of the pre-existing infrastructure.

[04:09] Siloed models: Far from a single, superhuman entity, AI currently exists in the form of different models that perform various functions.

[06:40] IntelliSee ICP: Potential customers of IntelliSee are typically open to the public, need IP cameras and generally have a higher focus on the safety and security of their patients than more affluent healthcare settings.

[10:02] Layered security: When it comes to monitoring cameras, AI is king. But it’s a layer of security — not the be-all and end-all.

[12:34] Integrative prerogative: IntelliSee is fundamentally an automatic alarm based on what cameras in healthcare settings see.

[14:02] AI hype and fears: All technology can be used for good or bad. ChatGPT simply amplified the mainstream’s awareness of the dangers and drawbacks of AI-based technology.

[16:14] OEM and VAR partnerships: As an open integrations platform, IntelliSee’s GTM is through the reseller. The hardest part about deployment, Maureen highlights, is identifying the cameras the customers want to monitor.

[18:28] Federated model guardrails: The company doesn’t take video data from customer sites, and all communications are entirely by customer choice. IntelliSee’s model is also only trained on security camera video footage for the sake of accuracy. 

[20:59] Ambitious roadmap: The technology is evolving so quickly that growth opportunities for IntelliSee in the coming years pop up constantly, including crowd control and doing more with less.

[23:26] AI cameras will soon be everywhere: Hospitals behind the curve need to prepare for what’s to come and start thinking proactively about how to create safer, more secure healthcare sites.

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CarePoints with Kenny Schiff by Lone Star Communications is a series of conversations with his collaborators at Lone Star, customers, partners, and notable folks in the healthcare industry. For over 32 years, Lone Star Communications has been focused on transforming healthcare through innovation and empowering improved caregiver and patient experience.