The American Hospital Association (AHA), in collaboration with the FBI, has released a series of behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) resources developed in partnership with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit-1 (BAU).
Over the past two years, the FBI’s BAU has worked alongside AHA partners to support efforts aimed at preventing targeted violence in health care settings.
The newly released leadership guide outlines practical, evidence-based strategies to strengthen threat management protocols. It includes guidance on coordinating with local and federal law enforcement in implementing BTAM efforts, as well as training approaches to help health care teams better understand and apply threat assessment practices. The guide also features case studies from AHA members. These examples highlight how organizations have built and sustained BTAM teams, developed partnerships with law enforcement and community stakeholders, and trained the workforce on identifying targeted violence threats.
In addition, a companion resource compendium is designed for health care security professionals seeking a more detailed understanding of how hospitals and health systems are using BTAM frameworks to prevent targeted violence. The compendium provides expanded analysis and supporting material from researchers, security professionals and FBI personnel to complement the leadership guide.
Both resources are available through the ongoing partnership between the AHA and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and are part of the AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence initiative. The initiative supports member hospitals and health systems in addressing workplace and community violence through structured prevention and response strategies.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
