Crime Risk Data Boosts Healthcare Facility Safety

Healthcare organizations are demanding more robust security in response to a sharp increase in crime incidents, which started in 2016, according to the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. 

“The data is very credible and speaks volumes in comparing crime data for that specific location against county, state, and national averages.”

Yet, while crime is up and some security hardening is unavoidable, additional funding is not always readily available. Current pressures on operating margins require healthcare systems to carefully target their security spend to yield the greatest benefit. 

Nationwide Children’s Hospital is growing rapidly, with 34 new outpatient care centers across Ohio, along with its main downtown Columbus, Ohio, location.

“We’re now up to 60 locations total, and every new facility or physical doctor practice will include a CAP Index CRIMECAST Report,” explained Director of Security Dan Yaross. “The data is very credible and speaks volumes in comparing crime data for that specific location against county, state, and national averages. Nationwide Children’s Hospital uses the data to prioritize security enhancements and make security recommendations.

With CAP Index, Nationwide Children’s Hospital:

• Gets access to objective data to make decisions faster
• Validates site data gathered internally
• Budgets for additional security measures above their baseline
• Keeps patients and staff safe

CAP INDEX’S TOOLS FOR CRIME RISK ASSESSMENT

Risk assessment plays a vital role in shaping a hospital security program. Healthcare organization leaders need visibility into threats, vulnerability, and potential consequences to help them prioritize h risk mitigation strategies and understand what level of risk they must accept. 

All Nationwide Children’s Hospital sites receive a baseline of security, which is adjusted based on the services a facility or office offers: Urgent care requires more than a regular clinic, for example, and payroll functions bump it up a notch. The relative safety of the surrounding environment is another critical input driving security levels.

“We do our own internal data review, but CAP Index gives us the true neighborhood picture,” explained Yaross. “It supports staffing models and all of our technology requests—for installing lockdown buttons on front doors, for example—and indirectly informs our workplace violence training.”

“It [the data] supports staffing models and all of our technology requests – for installing lockdown buttons on front doors, for example – and indirectly informs our workplace violence training.”

CAP Index Data and the Role it Plays in Security Plans

Yaross and his team are rigorous in their internal risk assessment, and he says the quality and validity of CAP Index data provides an equally robust picture of external crime risk. “Basically, we’ve agreed upon certain requirements, so we don’t have to argue at every location for card readers—and CAP Index feeds into that,” he said. “It saves us a boatload of time.” And money. Yaross said security’s collaboration in the design process helps the organization to properly plan for future security technology needs and eliminates the need for expensive retrofits.

 Yaross says data drives the train at Nationwide Children’s Hospital—and the more objective the better. “It’s one thing for [security] to recommend something, but data is what makes an impact—and that’s what CAP Index CRIMECAST Reports give us,” Yaross explained.

Data objectivity has also proved beneficial in negotiations with landlords. The value proposition isn’t as strong for Nationwide Children’s to install security systems in leased spaces, so Yaross said he works with his organization’s real estate and planning team to compile credible evidence in requests to building owners to make security enhancements. “They coordinate with property owners using CAP Index CRIMECAST Reports and have been successful.”

For Nationwide Children’s Hospital, CAP Index is providing the data that helps it deliver the right amount of security. “We’ve managed our growth pretty safely, even as we grew our behavioral services line for high-risk patient populations,” said Yaross. “Through it all, I feel we’ve been well-prepared, and CAP Index data is an important part of that.”