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As a highly regulated industry, the healthcare industry needs to have robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, procedures, and practices. At the same time, cybercriminals target healthcare organizations because they manage valuable protected health information (PHI). Identity management in healthcare is fundamental protecting PHI, and single sign-on technologies enable streamlined user authorization workflows.
Within the healthcare industry, organizations struggle with managing identity and access for many reasons.
Healthcare organizations collect, store, and transmit various types of sensitive data, including:
Healthcare organizations share more data with more users than ever before. Some examples of the different users access healthcare organizations’ systems include:
Healthcare organizations struggle to manage identity with cloud-based electronic medical records (EMR) and electronic health record (EHR) systems. Although these solutions enable them to provide better patient care, they also create security and privacy risks because people often use weak passwords that cybercriminals can leverage with dictionary and brute force attacks.
More than ever, patients want telehealth services. In fact, according to analyst McKinsey’s 2021 Physician Survey, patients want telehealth services so much that 58% of physicians reported losing patients to physicians or health systems that could support these needs. The report further found that utilization of telehealth services was still at 38 times pre-COVID-19 levels. Additionally, they want on-demand access to their records. Both cases present unique identity management challenges since healthcare organizations may not be able to verify that a user’s digital identity is the same as their real-world identity.
Compliance in the healthcare space includes federal regulations and industry standards. Most notable are:
Meeting compliance mandates while protecting patient data is challenging. However, healthcare organizations can take several steps to help them manage identity.
Healthcare organizations may have all the records for workforce members and patients, but it’s a different situation when they need to validate digital identities. When providing access to telehealth and electronic records, healthcare organizations need to make sure that only the real person can access the information.
Although HIPAA does set out clear password guidelines, healthcare organizations should make sure that their policies:
A single source of truth for managing identity gives organizations a way to gain visibility into the many different users and access types needed. Organizations should start with an identity management system, like Active Directory. However, they can supplement this with single sign-on to help mitigate risks associated with passwords.
HIPAA requires a minimum of two-factor authentication that includes:
As a best practice, healthcare organizations should use a combination of all three factors.
Passwordless technologies bind information about a person’s real identity to their digital identity. They use the biometric technology on a user’s device to validate the person, then assign the device a private key which then authenticates the user to websites and applications. With passwordless authentication, healthcare organizations create a smooth login experience across all device types for all users.
Between compliance mandates, cybercriminals, and new technologies, healthcare organizations need to be more diligent than ever before when trying to secure identity. When end users find that a security control is too much time or effort, they often fail to use it.
Healthcare organizations can streamline their identity management processes using Transmit Security’s passwordless authentication to ensure stronger security.With our services, healthcare providers can implement technology for a seamless authentication experience, eliminating less secure methods like one-time validations and two-factor authentication. Combining highly secure device biometrics and the standardized protocols of FIDO, our solutions track and gauge risk across all platforms, sessions, and devices while also offering a streamlined user experience.
