Abstract
Healthcare organizations today face a wide range of escalating threats, including workplace violence, cyber intrusions, social unrest, and increasingly targeted acts against healthcare professionals and executives. These dynamic and evolving risks demand a forward-thinking and strategic approach to safety and security. Traditional models, which often react only after an incident has occurred, leave facilities vulnerable and underprepared. Intelligence-led security management represents a modern, proactive, and strategic solution.
By leveraging intelligence data, predictive analytics, and multidisciplinary threat assessments, Intelligence-Led Security Management supports the early identification and mitigation of risks before they cause harm. Modeled after intelligence-led policing, this framework improves decision-making at all levels, enhances cost efficiency, reduces organizational exposure, and strengthens healthcare safety culture. This article presents the core components of Intelligence-Led Security Management, including the role of real-time threat assessment centers (RTACs), and provides a compelling case for why senior healthcare leaders should prioritize and invest in this security paradigm. The impact of Intelligence-Led Security Management extends beyond protection—it fosters safer work environments, reduces staff turnover, and contributes directly to positive patient outcomes.
Introduction
Today’s healthcare landscape is more complex and challenging than ever before. Facilities are no longer solely focused on clinical excellence and patient satisfaction—they must now contend with a growing spectrum of security threats that can disrupt operations, threaten lives, and harm reputations. Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022) reveal that incidents of workplace violence in healthcare far exceed those in other industries. Hospital staff, particularly those in emergency departments and behavioral health units, are often the most exposed. Moreover, hospitals and large healthcare systems have become symbolic targets during periods of political unrest, pandemic-related tension, and socioeconomic disruption.
Many organizations still rely on outdated, reactive security models despite these risks. These models prioritize response over prevention, often leaving organizations unprepared for high-impact events. Intelligence-led security management offers a transformative solution—one that is grounded in continuous information gathering, data analysis, strategic communication, and multidisciplinary coordination. By detecting patterns, identifying at-risk individuals, and applying targeted interventions, Intelligence-led security management empowers healthcare systems to anticipate threats and mitigate them before harm occurs. Intelligence-led security management is not just an operational enhancement but a strategic necessity that aligns with organizational values and risk management priorities.
Shifting to a Proactive Approach: Why Intelligence-Led Security Works
Reactive security operations are limited in their ability to prevent harm. Once an incident occurs—such as an assault, intrusion, or coordinated protest—the damage is often already done. Reactive models focus on containment, investigation, and recovery. While these functions are essential, they do little to prevent repeat occurrences or to identify underlying trends. On the other hand, intelligence-led security management equips security and public safety leaders with the tools and methodologies to recognize warning signs and stop incidents before they escalate.
This proactive approach centers around several key functions: continuous threat monitoring, behavioral risk assessment, crime analysis, and data sharing. By analyzing patterns in incident reports, visitor access logs, emergency calls, and even social media activity, intelligence-led security management enables security teams to identify emerging risks. Behavioral threat assessment teams, in particular, can monitor individuals who exhibit concerning behaviors and initiate intervention strategies—such as coordination with HR, law enforcement, or behavioral health professionals.
Healthcare facilities that have adopted intelligence-led security management frameworks often report measurable benefits. These include reductions in violent incidents, fewer workers’ compensation claims, and improved staff morale. Additionally, a proactive security program communicates a message of safety and professionalism to patients and visitors, enhancing trust in the organization. By using tools like open-source intelligence (OSINT) and integrating threat analysis across departments, healthcare facilities create a unified and intelligent security ecosystem (ASIS International, 2022).
Learning from Law Enforcement: Intelligence-Led Policing as a Model
The concept of intelligence-led policing (ILP) emerged in response to the rise in organized crime, terrorism, and repeat offenders. It emphasized departure from routine patrol-based policing toward intelligence-driven strategies prioritizing high-risk individuals and locations. ILP emphasizes the strategic use of data, crime mapping, surveillance, and interagency collaboration to prevent crime and allocate law enforcement resources efficiently (Ratcliffe, 2016).
Intelligence-led security management draws directly from this methodology and applies it to the healthcare environment. Hospitals, much like cities or districts, have “hot spots” for security risks—specific units or times of day where incidents are more frequent. Data may show that security calls spike during shift changes or that violent incidents are more likely to occur in behavioral health or substance abuse treatment units. Intelligence-led security uses this data to create risk profiles and align security resources where they are most needed.
One example comes from a large hospital in the Midwest that analyzed two years of incident reports and discovered that 68% of physical altercations involved patients with prior behavioral alerts. This insight prompted the hospital to implement a pre-admission flagging system and increase security presence in identified risk zones, resulting in a significant drop in repeat incidents over the following year. Like law enforcement’s offender-focused intervention tactics, Intelligence-led security management supports focused deterrence strategies that emphasize early and strategic engagement.
Real-Time Threat Assessment Centers: The Heart of Intelligence-Led Security Management
A cornerstone of any successful intelligence-led security program is the Real-Time Threat Assessment Center (RTAC). These centers function as centralized intelligence hubs where information is collected, analyzed, visualized, and disseminated. RTACs often integrate inputs from access control systems, surveillance cameras, incident reporting platforms, and public databases. In some cases, they also include artificial intelligence tools that flag anomalies or generate predictive threat alerts.
RTACs enable security leaders to make real-time decisions with complete situational awareness. For example, when a disgruntled former employee posts a threatening message on social media, the RTAC team can quickly cross-reference access badge activity, vehicle plate information, and prior incident history. This rapid synthesis of information allows for immediate and informed responses—including lockdowns, law enforcement notifications, or behavioral threat assessment referrals.
Where RTACs have been implemented results have been positive. In some cases, organizations have seen an increase as high as 40% in the identification of persons of interest within the first year. This capability allowed for interventions in several situations that may have led to violence or disruption. RTACs also strengthen organizational coordination during disasters or mass casualty events by serving as the command-and-control center for security operations.
Measuring Success: Return on Investment (ROI)
Healthcare executives are understandably focused on the financial implications of new initiatives. Fortunately, intelligence-led security management provides a strong value proposition. Beyond its safety outcomes, intelligence-led security management contributes to both cost savings and risk reduction. Organizations implementing proactive security programs consistently report reduced spending on incident response, workers’ compensation, nursing turnover, legal settlements, and overtime staffing.
Intelligence-led security also reduces liability. When threats are documented, assessed, and addressed in a timely fashion, the organization demonstrates due diligence, strengthening legal defensibility in litigation. These savings can be reinvested into patient care, workforce development, or expanding security technologies.
Positive Impact on Staff and Patients
Workplace safety directly impacts employee engagement, retention, and job satisfaction. Healthcare is an emotionally and physically demanding profession, and when workers feel unsafe, their performance and mental health can decline. Conversely, organizations prioritizing safety foster a culture of professionalism, stability, and compassion.
The Joint Commission (2022) and the American Hospital Association (2021) have repeatedly emphasized the connection between employee safety and patient satisfaction. When staff feel secure in their environment, they can better focus on delivering compassionate care. HCAHPS scores, which measure patient experience, often improve when visible safety protocols are in place.
A 2023 article published in Security Magazine further supports this correlation, noting that healthcare employees working within strong violence prevention cultures reported greater satisfaction, regardless of actual incident volume. In particular, hospitals with visible investments in public safety and faster response times saw greater staff trust and perceived safety (Security Magazine, 2023). Likewise, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has reported that workplace violence significantly contributes to burnout and turnover in nursing staff, with estimated turnover rates between 15% and 36% when prevention strategies are not in place (AHRQ, 2023).
Conclusion
The demands of modern healthcare call for a modern approach to security. Intelligence-led healthcare security management offers a strategic, data-driven alternative to outdated reactive models. By leveraging real-time intelligence, predictive analysis, and collaborative partnerships, intelligence-led security management transforms security from a passive function into a vital component of organizational resilience.
Through Real-Time Threat Assessment Centers, behavioral threat management teams, and predictive data tools, healthcare organizations can prevent violence, improve operational continuity, and safeguard the well-being of their staff and patients. These benefits extend far beyond risk reduction—they touch the core of the healthcare mission: to care, protect, and heal.
Healthcare leaders must recognize that intelligence-led security management is not only a safety measure but a strategic enabler of excellence. The return on investment is clear. The improvements in culture, safety, efficiency, and patient outcomes are profound. Intelligence-led security is not just a good idea but a modern strategic imperative.
References
American Hospital Association. (2021). Building a culture of safety: A blueprint for success. https://www.aha.org
ASIS International. (2022). Protection of assets: Security management. Alexandria, VA: ASIS.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Injuries, illnesses, and fatalities: Workplace violence. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov
Joint Commission. (2022). Workplace violence prevention standards. https://www.jointcommission.org
Kim, Y., Mayer, M., & Jones, T. (2020). The impact of workplace violence on patient safety: A study of nurses in acute care settings. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(6), 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987120960200
Ratcliffe, J. (2016). Intelligence-led policing. 2nd ed. Routledge.
Security Magazine. (2023). Investigating violence prevention and healthcare workplace violence programs. https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/96487-investigating-violence-prevention-and-healthcare-workplace-violence-programs
U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2023). Addressing workplace violence and creating a safer workplace. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/perspective/addressing-workplace-violence-and-creating-safer-workplace
