Greg Wurm: Mitigating Risk in Open Environments

With 38.5 million affiliated health plan members nationwide, Anthem, Inc. is one of the U.S.’s biggest health benefits companies with commercial health plans in 14 states and Medicaid plans in 19 states. As Staff Vice President of Corporate Security, Greg Wurm focuses on providing protection and a secure environment for the company’s employees.

Wurm has 22 years of law enforcement background, including investigations and internal affairs and a stint as a police chief, and is now in his fifth year at Anthem. His favorite part of working in the insurance sector is seeing the difference Anthem can make for its affiliated health plan members. “I like the real focus on how we contribute to that in the corporate security department and how the company works hard to really make a difference in the lives of the members that we serve,” Wurm says.

Because Anthem’s subsidiary Caremore has clinics that provide on-site service directly to members, staffed with doctors, nurses and the like, one of the unique challenges Wurm has is “finding that balance between having the open environment for providing those member services, but at the same time, providing the security that associates need in order to be successful in their position.” Another challenge is keeping up with the rules and regulations in an ever-changing industry and making sure the company stays compliant.

Currently, Wurm’s primary focus is on enterprise risk in terms of associate safety. “We have a large associate population, and they’re in that open environment in some of our offices,” says Wurm. “Our real primary risks are things like potential workplace violence cases or other high profile cases that, even if not directed toward our company, could impact people at work there. Trying to find that balance to have that safe environment is one of our big challenges right now.”

Having vendors and associates in other countries, as well as locations where Anthem associates travel, also gives his team “a global perspective and responsibility when it comes to our associate safety,” Wurm says. His team monitors associate travel in case of a major incident that requires assistance.

Keeping on top of briefings and reports and anticipating upcoming events that could impact the company is a daily task. Upcoming events include anything from protests that are either directed toward the company or impact company operations to keeping track of people who want to cause disruption or defame the Anthem brand and its affiliate and subsidiary brands.

Another key responsibility is monitoring physical security risks throughout the company and taking steps to mitigate those risks. “Our physical security risk mitigation steps are aligned with other key security programs so that we have multiple layers of security to protect associates, facilities and data,” says Wurm. “To be efficient, we need to constantly monitor these risks and be proactive in addressing and identifying gaps in the program.”

Internal surveys and measures with key stakeholders in the company, senior executives and other department heads, as well as getting feedback from them, is how security’s value is measured at Anthem. “Those internal mechanisms have been very positive and helpful for us by identifying the depth that we may have in terms of providing the right support,” Wurm says. “We’ve been really engaged in doing some metrics and measures that provide self-analysis for our department and help us identify any potential gaps that may be there and areas of strengths and weakness that we have.”

Wurm finds the organizational structure at Anthem to be very beneficial. His team reports to the Chief Human Resource Officer and since the security department’s primary function is about protection of associates, being aligned with human resources makes sense since they represent the associate population. “I think there’s a definite alignment there, and the support that we’ve gotten from the CHRO and the company to go out and provide the support and services that we do has been very good. It’s definitely our alignment that has helped us be successful at this point,” says Wurm.

Anthem’s C-suite views the security department favorably, Wurm says. “We work hard to find the right balance in our organization to provide the C-suite with the support they need to be successful in leading their different departments,” he says. Anthem’s corporate security department is rated among the top global organizations and is used as a benchmark for others.

Security’s biggest contribution to the organization is providing a secure environment, says Wurm. “If it’s not a secure environment for people to work in and they’re not comfortable, it impacts their business and ability to do their work.”