Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication resource that, through a single login, gives access to multiple systems, even if independent. In practice this means that you only need to enter your credentials once – username and password – to access all IT solutions.
As the health sector is one of the most demanding and intolerant of faults, distractions and errors, anything that technology can simplify proves to be a great asset. The single-sign on specialist in this area is a clear example.
According to IDC Health Insights, if healthcare providers are not required to repeatedly write their credentials, they can save up to 45 minutes a day. A single sign-on solution streamlines your work, speeds up access to information and allows you to focus on what’s really important – resulting in greater satisfaction for both the healthcare professional and the patient.
There is also another pressing issue, it is very common for health professionals to share workstations (desktops, tablets, laptops, among other equipment). Thus, and unintentionally, collaborators sometimes use sessions that are already open, which causes countless security problems. The SSO avoids all this while ensuring the protection of professionals’, providers’ and patients’ data.
Authentication and single sign-on in the healthcare sector thus contribute to dematerialisation processes and workflow optimisation. We summarise below the main advantages for both the end-user (health professional) and the management area (system administration).
Advantages for the user
- Simplification of access. Single sign-on simplifies and streamlines the way healthcare professionals access and interact with applications. This means they can work with all tools – corporate, web or SaaS – with just one credential.
- Greater safety. Healthcare professionals only need a password or their collaborator card. When they are forced to work with multiple, they tend to choose simpler, easier-to-remember passwords or write them down so they don’t forget. These behaviours are a real threat to data and infrastructure security. With a single sign-on solution, they can use a strong password and manage the creation and resetting in self-service mode, in a totally secure and fast way.
- Higher productivity. In healthcare, time management can be a determining factor in patients’ lives. With a single sign-on system, healthcare professionals do not have to waste time entering different authentication credentials every time they want to access a service or application. A single login gives access to everything.
- Better experience with fingerprint biometrics. The possibility of biometric fingerprint identification offers healthcare professionals easy and secure access to desktops and applications with a single action, eliminating the need to remember or enter usernames and passwords.
- Greater speed with proximity card readers. Instead of repeatedly entering their credentials, healthcare professionals can also simply swipe their employee card at a reader and gain immediate access to all the systems they need.
Advantages for management
- Greater access control. Automated password policy management simplifies the work of administrators and facilitates the provisioning and rapid deployment of SaaS applications.
- Greater safety. SSO reduces the risk inherent in cyber attacks, such as phishing, by reducing the number of authentication credentials required. Still, it is important to implement a multi-factor system, for when credentials become compromised. It is also easier to control and monitor the work of each professional, carry out audits, check unauthorised access and avoid breaches of data privacy.
- Fewer mistakes. Using a single credential significantly reduces support requests from IT teams. Effective implementation of an SSO and a centralised credential management system ensures compliance without impacting on carers or IT staff.
- Simpler and safer exits. The management of an employee exit process is also more agile. IT can quickly disable user access to all services in one go, i.e. they don’t have to remove each access in isolation.
In fact, throughout their working day, healthcare professionals need to access multiple platforms, systems and applications, with different authentication rules. This process is not only time-consuming, but results in constant interruptions, which translates into a poor user experience and inevitable loss of productivity. In addition, frequent support requests result in high costs for the system administration team and inconsistent access control.
How to solve all these challenges? Warpcom designs and implements Imprivata’s OneSign solution, which is present in over 1900 hospitals and has more than 7 million users.
Contact us to find out all its value-added features and see it in action.
