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Searching for available parking spaces in or near a hospital during a medical emergency can be a traumatizing experience – when the matter regards life and death, you do not want to waste time struggling to park.. Considering it is an atmosphere where people might already be under tremendous stress, even small measures like smart parking in hospitals can help. A smooth and user-friendly parking system can elevate the overall experience for patients and visitors.

While healthcare facilities are adopting digital technology in all areas, parking facilities at hospitals are often overlooked. However, relevant authorities can change this by implementing smart parking solutions. Thanks to new cost-effective technologies and IoT, smart parking systems can make urban mobility efficient.

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How does smart parking work?

A smart parking guidance system can guide the driver towards empty bays inside a parking lot. How? The sensors deployed within a parking garage record real-time data, which informs the driver about vacant spaces in facilities.

With the use of LED indicators, the driver can know how many spaces are available, with a green light indicating an empty spot and red showing used spaces. This shortens the time spent finding a parking space and facilitates the smooth flow of traffic around the hospital.

Is smart parking the road ahead for hospital parking?

Like any other parking space, hospital parking lots can be digitalized to allow optimum utilization of available parking space and a seamless flow of vehicles in and out of the premises.

From parking facility owners implementing intelligent parking solutions to visitors and staff using the smart parking apps, it can transform the way hospitals operate.

In a nutshell, smart parking technologiescan offer-

• Enhanced operational efficiency
• Significant cost savings
• Easier and faster collection of parking revenue by parking lot owners as opposed to paper tickets or manual pay stations
• Convenient parking payment to the end-user
• Better parking capacity management

Benefits of smart parking systems at hospitals

Hospital parking lots can easily become Coronavirus hotspots if transactions are not made touchless. To remedy this, an effective smart parking system can be put in place for:

• Registering the time of exit and entry in the parking lot through automatic plate number recognition
• Remote controlled entry and exit barriers to help save time for emergency vehicles
• Contactless cards or parking permits for the hospital employees
• A digital parking ticket on the smart parking app of the user for short-term parking purposes

Moreover, since manual payment or ticket machines carry the risk of infection, authorities can integrate a touchless payment platform with the smart parking system. Hospitals can also employ automatic pay stations which allow payments through digital platforms. Or, they can implement an automatic payment system when the vehicle is exiting the parking lot.

Here, ANPR (Automatic Plate Number Recognition) camera can detect the vehicle registration plate against the data base and deduct payment automatically from any linked bank account in the smart parking app.

Other app-based smart parking solutions

Outdated parking infrastructure can often create difficulties for patients and visitors during doctor appointments, leading them to miss their schedules. App-based parking solutions can help avoid this. Whenever someone books a doctor’s visit, the app can ask them for their number plate to allow automatic access to a parking lot beforehand.

This facilitates automatic entry and exit, saving time and making the process smoother for patients, especially during emergencies. This system, along with other smart solutions, can help people with disabilities, allowing them to park more safely without any help.

The bottom line

Touchless payments, automated entry-exit, and easy parking access can reduce the risk of infections and boost overall patient, visitor, and staff experience and safety. And, this is why smart parking in hospitals is a must.

Get My Parking is an award-winning interoperable smart parking platform that connects different mobility and parking stakeholders through a common platform. To integrate all your car parks, payments, equipment across diverse customer touchpoints, reach out to us.