Healthcare Security Consulting Case Study

Large Regional Healthcare System

SRMC enters its fifth year working with one of the region’s largest healthcare systems, serving as the institution’s outside security consultant.  With 18 hospitals and over 50 outpatient clinics, urgent care centers, and freestanding emergency departments, the system faced a wide range of security issues, including disparate access control, security video and intrusion detection systems, locally controlled police and/or security operations, and vastly different security policies across the system.

SRMC was engaged to evaluate security operations and technologies, with the objective of standardizing technologies and bringing the management of security operations to the corporate level.

Our Approach

SRMC began by assessing each facility to determine the current status of security technology and operations.  Simultaneously, SRMC worked with senior leadership to develop a model of what security should be for the hospital system.  Our work included:

  • Security assessments of all facilities

  • Identification and reconciliation of administrative expectations and end-user needs.

  • Reassessment of key locations to determine progress.

  • Establishing a system-wide public safety model

Our work has led to the development of two master plans for the system: one focusing solely on security technologies and one focusing on operations.  These documents are now used for ongoing improvements to the overall security operation.  The importance of developing master planning documents is that it creates a vision of the final product.  Using that, and a current assessment of where the organization is providing the delta, or gap, which we work to close. 

Results

SRMC’s work resulted in the healthcare organization selecting an intrusion detection system manufacturer to best meet its needs. SRMC developed standards for the purchase and installation of this new equipment and a multi-year plan to retrofit existing facilities.

  • Identifying and working toward a single access control platform and the use of a single credential for access
  • Identification of a single platform for security video and working toward integrating monitoring into a single communications control center
  • Development of a single security operation for the hospital using a hybrid approach which utilizes both sworn police officers and security officers
  • Consolidation of security policies across the system

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HealthcareLynda Buel