Jun 3, 2026
Rick Focke, Director of Product and Market Development for Johnson Controls, focuses on AI's role in modernizing healthcare security and helping hospitals shift from reactive to proactive security. AI is improving staff efficiency, reducing nuisance alarms, detecting unauthorized wandering, and transforming cameras into multifaceted sensors for tasks such as fall detection and asset tracking, all without constant human monitoring. Of particular concern is the rise in workplace violence, and these cameras can detect aggressive behavior before incidents escalate.
Rick explains, "Hospitals are a unique use case where they are in a very public space. So how do you secure a public space? You have to really weigh the security versus public areas and then keep the really sensitive areas safe and secure. And even though it might be mainly public spaces, keep a vigilant watch on those spaces. And we're using now a lot of AI to help in that task to really react quickly, to be proactive when things do go awry."
"The most unmet needs, I would say, would be being more proactive in the workplace violence area. It is really increasing from all the studies I've been reading. We need to do a better job of heading off in the pass. And that's where AI is really helping. With AI, you can train the system to detect bad behaviors or aggressive behaviors in patients, contractors, or anyone. When that happens, the system can alert the operators. They can send out different kinds of alerts based on how important it is, which really helps create a safer environment. We also have a lot of wearables that have person-down alerts when something happens that can reinforce that whole response when something is going awry."
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