Being a member of a clinical staff means providing the best possible service to patients. Losing time by logging in multiple times, trying to remember your username or typing a long password incorrectly is time that is better invested in patient care.
The number of websites, applications and devices to which an average person has to log in continues to grow. If you consider that a nurse has to log in to different systems several times per session, it’s clear that there should be more efficient solutions.
In 2018 GDPR came into effect, which explicitly states that every individual action by an employee must be traceable. Group users have also been banned since the introduction of GDPR.
The solution? Single Sign-on (SSO) with Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM)
WHAT IS SINGLE SIGN-ON (SSO)?
Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication process that allows a user to access multiple applications with one set of credentials, lowering the user’s threshold by reducing the number of login times and ensuring productivity.
THE BENEFITS OF SSO FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES?
1. FAST USER SWITCHING
Fast User Switching, or FUS, is a feature that allows users to switch between different user accounts on one device, such as computers, thin clients, medical devices, and more. This without closing and logging out. This Fast User Switching is possible via the existing staff access badges.
2. TIME SAVINGS AND PRODUCTIVITY
Healthcare workers are required to enter their credentials for various purposes. They are hindered by slow interfaces, long usernames and difficult passwords. Research shows that every nurse loses between 30 and 45 minutes a day by logging into the necessary applications. With Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM), this becomes a thing of the past.
3. MULTIPLE DEVICES
Single Sign-On is not only possible via fat clients, but also via thin clients, roaming desktops (virtual desktops), zero clients, medical devices (Welch Allyn, Philips healthcare, …) and shared mobile devices.
4. EASE OF USE
Nurses use a variety of applications and devices throughout their day. This means that they have to log in dozens of times each single day. Using Enterprise Access Management (EAM), users can log in easily and securely in a fraction of the time to significantly increase ease of use.
To further increase the ease of use, “Secure Walk-Away” can be implemented, which is an integrated part of Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM). Workstations are automatically unlocked via a Bluetooth dongle and IOS or Android smartphone, which replace the standard badge and badge reader. This happens as soon as the bluetooth signal is picked up by the reader of the workstation. Once the bluetooth connection is lost (for example by walking out of reach), the associated workstations will be locked again. This naturally results in increased ease of use and heightened security.
THE BENEFITS OF SSO FOR THE ORGANIZATION?
GDPR COMPLIANT
With the help of Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM) the use of group accounts can be avoided. This allows every employee to log in quickly and securely to his / her personal account. The result is that every individual action is traceable and therefore GDPR compliant.
Furthermore, the GDPR legislation also states that electronic patient records must be secured via MFA (multi-factor authentication). Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM) also offers MFA options, such as badge with pin code, RSA tokens and Push notifications.
EXTENSIVE REPORTING
Every possible audit report can be exported from Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM), and can trace when, how and where an employee has access to the network and the applications used.
Some advantages of this reporting:
- Meet audit conditions
- Optimizing workflows
- Easily detect fraudulent activities, which increases security
COST SAVING
On the IT help desk, it is a daily occurrence, resetting passwords. But of course this comes at a cost, and this cost is growing considerably as the number of applications and websites with login functions continue to grow. These costs can be avoided with Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM).
FUTURE-PROOF SOLUTION
With Enterprise Access Management (EAM) it is possible and very easy to expand to new applications in a short amount of time. This due to the ‘Application Profile Generator’ or APG. When integrating new applications, it is child’s play to apply the SSO technology.
“With the knowledge that the security of our patients’ data has improved exponentially with the introduction of Imprivata, we are extending the implementation to bring the same benefits to other areas of the hospital.”
THE BENEFITS OF SSO FOR THE IT DEPARTMENT?
TIME SAVINGS
The largest share of support tickets within an IT department are login related, for example; forgotten passwords, password-resets, locked accounts. With the integration of Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM) this is avoided as the credentials are kept on an external badge, which is seen as “strong authentication”.
EASY TO USE
Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM) is configured via a simple web user interface, from which the different profiles are created. In addition to a simple User Interface (UI), the tool is also regularly optimized in terms of User Experience (UX).
EASY TO MAINTAIN
Enterprise Access Management (EAM) is easy to manage by the IT staff, no external resources are required, so costs and speed in change management can be guaranteed.
TRACEABILITY
It is very simple to track users via Enterprise Access Management (EAM). Demonstrating who has registered in which way, via which device and in which application is therefore no longer a complex and time-consuming task.
ENHANCED SECURITY OF PATIENT DATA
Forcing users repeatedly to log-in to locked applications and workstations increases the temptation of insecure short-cuts. With Enterprise Access Management (EAM), sharing login details with other employees or writing down passwords on post-its, which increases unauthorized access to patient data, is a thing of the past. After all, complex passwords no longer need to be remembered and multifactor authentication is done via easy, but secure methods such as a badge tap or fingerprint.
Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (EAM) AND IS4U
IS4U is Premier Imprivata partner, the highest partner level within Imprivata. At the moment we have carried out projects within 25 organizations in the healthcare sector, including AZ Groeninge and AZ Sint-Jan Brugge.
NEXUZHEALTH KWS INTEGRATION:
Our Imprivata experts have written a custom-made integration with the Nexushealth KWS system. For more information about this integration you can always contact us here.
ABOUT IS4U
IS4U has more than 12 years of experience in the field of Identity and Access Management (IAM). Our team of over 35 consultants conducts studies, establishes RFPs, assists clients in selecting the right tooling and provides end-to-end implementations, hosting, management and 24/7 support for IAM environments.
ABOUT IMPRIVATA
More than 2,200 hospitals worldwide rely on Imprivata, the market leader in Single Sign-On and authentication management for healthcare. Imprivata offers identity, authentication and access management solutions designed to address the unique healthcare challenges of workflow, security and compliance.