Book Review: Security Management for Healthcare: Proactive Event Prevention and Effective Resolution
Security Management for Healthcare: Proactive Event Prevention and Effective Resolution. By Bernard J. Scaglione, CPP. Routledge; available from ASIS; 220 pages; $60 (members); $65 (nonmembers).
Healthcare security is increasingly complex and regulated. Security Management for Healthcare: Proactive Event Prevention and Effective Resolution can help readers better understand the overall healthcare security industry.
Author Bernard Scaglione, CPP, does a credible job of covering the most important topics for security professionals working in this field. The book will be helpful for the police officer transitioning to healthcare security for the first time, as well as for the seasoned healthcare security professional. It educates the reader on important agencies and organizations they must be aware of, such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The Joint Commission.
Working in healthcare security for 25 years, I know that approval for security budget dollars is more challenging than ever. Scaglione offers advanced techniques on how to better focus security efforts without inflating budgets. For example, he explains how to conduct a predictive analysis in healthcare security to help prevent incidents from occurring.
The book guides the reader toward a more proactive approach by using crime prevention strategies, such as hot spot identification, directed patrol, and crime mapping. In addition, the discussion of metrics will be especially beneficial to security managers, describing how to assign a financial value to the specific security services they are offering.
Within a financially challenging environment like healthcare, this book is especially valuable in helping the reader create cost-effective strategies using data and metrics instead of just guessing what might work. Not only does this book offer an excellent overview of the healthcare security industry, it also describes specific tools and techniques that will help the healthcare security manager to be successful.
Reviewer: Scott A. Hill, CPP, managed the security program as director for King’s Daughters Health System in Ashland, Kentucky, for more than 25 years. He is also the chief privacy officer and executive director of community engagement for the health system. He is a member of ASIS.
