Key Takeaways
- • Securitas USA released a practical guide titled "Balancing the cost equation: A guide to evaluating healthcare security models" designed to help healthcare organizations quantify total security program costs, addressing what the company calls the "cost gap" between perceived and actual expenses.
- • The guide introduces a "cost equation" framework and calculator tool that enables healthcare leaders to evaluate security models with greater financial clarity by surfacing hidden costs typically distributed across multiple departments.
- • For in-house security programs, the cost gap encompasses expenses such as benefits, overtime, training, liability insurance, and management overhead that are often absorbed departmentally rather than consolidated, obscuring true program economics.
- • Jonathan Katz, region vice president of Securitas' healthcare division, emphasized that healthcare organizations are simultaneously managing mounting financial pressures, workforce shortages, and elevated safety expectations, making cost certainty in security spending increasingly critical to operational decision-making.
- • The guide uses a "renting versus owning" analytical framework to illustrate how outsourced security services provide known, all-in costs comparable to rental arrangements, whereas proprietary in-house programs carry hidden expenses similar to home ownership costs beyond initial acquisition.
Summary
Securitas USA, a global protective services provider with established healthcare sector expertise, published a strategic guide on June 24, 2026, aimed at addressing a persistent financial blind spot in healthcare security management. The guide, "Balancing the cost equation: A guide to evaluating healthcare security models," introduces an analytical framework and calculator designed to help healthcare leaders quantify the true total cost of ownership for security programs.
The core thesis underlying the guide centers on what Securitas terms the "cost gap"—the discrepancy between what healthcare leaders believe their security programs cost versus actual expenditures. According to Jonathan Katz, region vice president of Securitas' healthcare division, this cost gap remains one of the most overlooked realities in healthcare security decision-making. The problem is particularly acute for organizations operating proprietary, in-house security programs, where expenses including benefits, overtime, training, liability insurance, and management overhead are typically distributed across multiple operational departments rather than consolidated for visibility.
This fragmented cost allocation creates a distorted financial picture, frequently making in-house security programs appear more economical than they actually are. Katz illustrated this concept through a rental-versus-home-ownership analogy: while rental arrangements present known, all-inclusive costs upfront, home ownership carries hidden expenses such as insurance, repairs, and maintenance that accumulate beyond initial purchase price. Similarly, outsourced security services provide transparent, bundled costs, whereas proprietary programs obscure ancillary expenses across departmental budgets.
The timing of this initiative reflects pressures currently facing healthcare organizations. As Katz noted, healthcare systems are navigating concurrent financial constraints, workforce shortages, and elevated safety and security expectations from patients, staff, and stakeholders. In this operating environment, achieving cost certainty in security spending has become strategically important to institutional financial planning and resource allocation decisions. The "cost equation" framework and accompanying calculator provide healthcare leaders with a structured methodology to evaluate security model options while maintaining comprehensive visibility into all cost components.
The core thesis underlying the guide centers on what Securitas terms the "cost gap"—the discrepancy between what healthcare leaders believe their security programs cost versus actual expenditures. According to Jonathan Katz, region vice president of Securitas' healthcare division, this cost gap remains one of the most overlooked realities in healthcare security decision-making. The problem is particularly acute for organizations operating proprietary, in-house security programs, where expenses including benefits, overtime, training, liability insurance, and management overhead are typically distributed across multiple operational departments rather than consolidated for visibility.
This fragmented cost allocation creates a distorted financial picture, frequently making in-house security programs appear more economical than they actually are. Katz illustrated this concept through a rental-versus-home-ownership analogy: while rental arrangements present known, all-inclusive costs upfront, home ownership carries hidden expenses such as insurance, repairs, and maintenance that accumulate beyond initial purchase price. Similarly, outsourced security services provide transparent, bundled costs, whereas proprietary programs obscure ancillary expenses across departmental budgets.
The timing of this initiative reflects pressures currently facing healthcare organizations. As Katz noted, healthcare systems are navigating concurrent financial constraints, workforce shortages, and elevated safety and security expectations from patients, staff, and stakeholders. In this operating environment, achieving cost certainty in security spending has become strategically important to institutional financial planning and resource allocation decisions. The "cost equation" framework and accompanying calculator provide healthcare leaders with a structured methodology to evaluate security model options while maintaining comprehensive visibility into all cost components.
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