United Methodist Communities

THE CHALLENGE

Ensure the identification and tracking of visitors to all United Methodist Communities buildings.

THE OUTCOME

Accushield’s touchless kiosks created an organization-wide system that logs and tracks all visitors, third-party caregivers, volunteers, and vendors who enter the buildings.

THE IMPACT

Staff and residents at United Methodist Communities have the peace of mind of knowing that their safety and security is a priority for the organization.

In September of 2018, Larry Carlson, president and CEO of Neptune, N.J.-based United Methodist Communities (UMC), was in search of a process that would improve the safety and security of residents and visitors. “I wanted a system that tracks visitors coming into the buildings,” says Carlson. “We wanted a paperless solution that would help us identify all of the people showing up at our front doors—families, friends, vendors, contractors, outside medical staff, and volunteers.”

Objective Met

Enter Accushield’s tablet-based kiosk. Installed in all UMC communities, the paperless, touch-free sign-in and sign-out system was just what he was looking for.

“Accushield has enabled us to create real-time resident and visitor lists for use during emergency drills as well as actual emergencies,” says Carlson.

“It also helps us keep track of people coming into the building, and because we also have the badge printing option, our staff are able to easily identify anyone who doesn’t have one and ask about why they are in the building.”

In addition, UMC’s administrators now have a precise log of all visitors to their buildings that they can access at any time. “These lists are imperative if a resident were to go missing or if there was a need to evacuate a building,” Carlson notes.

A Lifesaver

The pandemic, of course, changed everything. And Accushield changed with it by adding an easy way to health screen and track visitors in accordance with federal and state requirements. “We were pleasantly surprised by Accushield’s ability to adjust to the evolving public health recommendations for screening for COVID-19,” Carlson says. “From that point of view, a front desk sign-in system evolved into a literal lifesaver.”

In addition to noting how grateful he was to have had Accushield in place before the pandemic, Carlson says their system “was invaluable in our fight against COVID-19 because it requires users to answer the screening questions that relate to a potential exposure to the virus and travel prior to their visits.”

The questions also enable UMC to remind its visitors about the need for handwashing, social distancing, and mask wearing within the communities, Carlson adds. “What’s more, it allows us to do contact tracing. And I don’t know how we would have been able to do this with our previous paper logs.”

Happy Families, Happy Residents

Both residents and families appreciate the safety and security that Accushield brings, Carlson reports, because they know all visitors entering the communities are logged. “Accushield has been a great product. It’s one of those things that just makes so much sense. Why wouldn’t you do this. We are a big fan!”

Carlson discovered another benefit of the Accushield system: its Love Meter feature. The Love Meter is a data point pulled from the community visitor history that gives management the ability to see the least visited residents in the building. “Accushield enables us to very easily identify how often our residents are visited by family and friends. I don’t know how many days it would take to find this out if we had to go through a closet full of binders,” he says. “Now, it spits it out in seconds.”