Whitepaper | December 2023

Sterility
SecurityEfficiency
Optimizing operating theater design

Whitepaper December 2023

Every hospital environment
has to work for its patientsand staff by offering thehighest levels of sterility,security and efficiency.
And nowhere is this more
important than in sterile
areas, clean rooms andoperating theaters.
It has to be somewhere that empowers surgeons to perform at the highest
levels and where patients know they will be treated with dignity and given thebest chance of recovery. Good design has a critical role to play in making thatpossible – everywhere from lighting, heating and air conditioning to the way
these healthcare spaces are zoned and accessed.

2Sterility Security Efficiency

A 2021 study publishedin the journal, TheLancet found that theglobal burden of HAIs
is estimated to be 4.1m
infections and 1.5m
deaths annually*.

Day-one design
considerations
Building in best practice means working with specialists right from the pre-planning andplanning phases – experts who understand how to design an environment that
not only works for a hospital’s unique needs today but also allows for future scaling up or
subsequent development phases. Key considerations at the beginning of every project include:

Layout and workflow
Creating a safe and efficient environmentthat meets international healthcare
guidelines and country-specificgovernment codes set by the Ministryof Healthcare.
Equipment and technology
Selecting the ideal equipment for thehospital’s specialist needs andcoordinating all pre-installation
preparations.

Environmental controls
Optimizing factors such as air quality,temperature and humidity.
Infection prevention
Maintaining sterility and controllingthe spread of germs.

36%
Rise in hospital acquired infections (HAIs)since 2002** https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21677524/

Whitepaper December 2023

Smart accesssolutions are
criticalAccess is pivotal in maintaining a secure and sterile
environment that integrates seamlessly into the hospital’s
infrastructure and delivers 24/7 peace of mind for both
surgical staff and patients.
dormakaba has a long track record of serving the healthcare
sector and working with hospital teams to develop bespoke
access solutions that draw on the latest technology andindustry best practice.

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Sterility Security Efficiency

Controlling infection
The challenges:• Containing movement of germs• Maintaining air filtration andcirculation• Reducing human contact withsurfaces

Solutions:
Effective control of both personnel
and air movement plays a vital rolein minimizing the spread of germs
and reducing the risk of infection.
Optimizing the layout of clean
rooms areas such as operating
theaters not only minimizes
unnecessary movement but also
promotes efficient teamwork while
clearly distinguishing between
sterile and non-sterile zones.
Touch-free access controls units
and automatic doors are key inachieving this, both reducing
unnecessary movement andpreventing unauthorized people
from entering restricted areas. The
contactless nature of these systems
also reduces the contact withsurfaces that is a major factor in
the spread of germs. Hermeticallysealed doors also play a critical rolein containing the turbulent air
generated by operating theater’s
HVAC systems, helping to preventcross-contamination through air
circulation.

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Whitepaper December 2023

Improving security
The challenges:• Securing traffic flow
• Maintaining patient privacy• Maintaining fire safety& escape routes

Solutions:
It is vital to automatically restrictaccess to authorized personnel inorder to preserve the integrity ofsensitive areas and ensure patient
privacy and security. This also servesto prevent the misuse of drugs andaccurately document individuals’
movement within restricted areas.
Against this backdrop, access
control systems provide certainty
and transparency. Typically operated
by key card or fingerprint, they allow
multiple users to access sensitive
areas such as the pharmacy oroperating theater, with all traffic
recorded and access managed
centrally.
At the same time as achieving highsecurity, hospitals also have toprovide seamless access inemergencies such as code red (fire),code blue (patient), and code black(personnel and property). Solutions
including automatic doors, fire-rated
hardware, seals and escape routesystems will improve safety in thesesituations and more.

IIntegrating equipment
The challenges:• Managing multiple
technology systems• Gathering security andworkflow dataSolutions:Integrating access solutions with
Building Management Systems (BMS)and Hospital Information Systems(HIS) offers a myriad of advantages
from enhanced safety to increased
operational efficiency. This
integration streamlines processes
from data collection to access rights
management.
One notable benefit is the ability todocument movement within hospital
facilities and analyse its efficiency.
This data-driven approach can leadto improved revenue generation
through optimized operating theaterschedules and enhanced proceduralprotocols. Furthermore, it provides avaluable tool for risk mitigation,

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offering a defence against potential
false accusations by patients, as it
can provide precise records of caretimings.
In certain scenarios, integration ofautomatic sealed doors and access
control systems extends to medical
equipment, such as radiology
machines. This prevents access torooms while the machinery is inoperation through interlocking
functions. These interlocking features
are also useful in isolated operatingrooms and areas designated forhighly contagious patients, serving
as air barriers to restrict movement
between spaces.

Sterility Security Efficiency

Increasing efficiency
The challenges:• Accessing secure areas• Optimizing schedules• Reducing noiseSolutions:
Creating a more efficient and comfortableenvironment for surgical staff pays dividends interms of staff wellbeing and patient safety.
Technologies such as selective seamless entry
systems enable a more efficient flow, giving staff
hassle-free movement between secure spaces.
Administrators are also able to leverage theassociated data to understand surgical workflow
and optimize their theatre scheduling. High impact
products like glass sound rated partitions,perimeter seals and dropdown seals that are
typically used also minimize potentially distracting
noise levels from connected spaces as well as
preventing the movement of contamination
through dust and air.

A 2019 study publishedin the journal of theAmerican Collegeof Surgeons foundthat hospitals that
implemented acollaborative schedulingsystem for operatingrooms were able toimprove resource
utilization by 10%*.

*The Benefits of Efficient Operating Room Scheduling (Healthcare Finance News, 2020)

Whitepaper December 2023

S
Simplifying
Implementation
The challenges:• Integrating smart access withthe wider development scheme• Adapting for future uses

8Solutions:
Seamless BIM integration ensuresthat access solutions harmonize
with the broader hospital
infrastructure across bothtechnological requirements anddesign considerations. Projectplanners can also anticipate futureconstruction phases and adapt to
evolving service needs.

This level of integration is especiallyadvantageous in high-revenue
healthcare settings, where there is aneed to address complex legal
requirements and intricate
scheduling demands. Furthermore,when combined with Building
Management Systems (BMS)
integration, it empowers hospitals tomaintain efficiency and compliancewith evolving industry standards.

Sterility Security Efficiency

Creating asafe, seamlessexperience
Intelligent access design plays a pivotal role in infection control within clean
areas and operating theater departments–from advanced control systems tohardware components such as touch-free automatic doors, self-closing door
hardware, glass sound rated partitions, antibacterial hardware, hermetic
doors, and interlocking doors. Deploying these solutions effectively restricts
access to highly complex areas, ensuring the safety, security, and privacy ofpatients while preventing infections, misuse of regulated drugs andunauthorized entry.
Moreover, when these elements are seamlessly integrated into well-designed
clean room departments and operating theaters and their outputs are linked
to Building Management Systems (BMS) and Hospital Information Systems(HIS), they deliver substantial value by enhancing revenue, reducing infection
risk, improving operational efficiency, and bolstering the safety and security ofpatients, staff, and materials.

Our Sustainability Commitment
We are committed to foster a sustainable development
along our entire value chain in line with our economic,environmental and social responsibilities toward current
and future generations. Sustainability at product levelis an important, future-oriented approach in the fieldof construction. In order to give quantified disclosuresof a product’s environmental impact through its entire
life cycle, dormakaba provides Environmental ProductDeclarations (EPD), based on holistic life cycle assessments.

Our offering
Access Automation Solutions
Entrance Automation
Entrance Security

Access Control Solutions
Electronic Access & Data
Escape and Rescue Systems
Lodging Systems

www.dormakaba.com/sustainability
Access Hardware Solutions
Door Closers
Architectural Hardware
Mechanical Key Systems

ServicesTechnical Support
Installation and commissioning
Maintenance and Repair

EN, 02/2024
Subject to technical modifications.

dormakaba.com

dormakaba International
Holding AG
Hofwisenstrasse 24CH-8153 Rümlang
T +41 44 818 90 11
info@dormakaba.com
www.dormakaba.com