Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen hospital in Austria has shortened application log-in and log-out times,as well as securing password management,after deploying Imprivata in its VMware environment.
Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen is the fifth-largest hospital in Austria,supported by a staff of more than 500 doctors and 1,200 nurses.It houses almost 1,300 beds and serves just over 3,500 employees.
Dr Harold Eder,chief medical informatics officer(CMIO)at Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen,explained that the hospital was in need of a solution which was secure and shortened log in times.
"The initial spark I had was when the iPad came onto the market.I got one and used it for a ward round in the hospital.It was very cool,but it got me thinking about what is the right device to use and the right device five years down the line.
"We needed a solution that was flexible enough for us to be independent."
Eder said in 2008 it took 20-25 seconds to login to sessions,whereas now it takes five to 10 seconds:"We're not the only hospital that has security issues.Colleagues use each others'sessions to make login easier,but we wanted to get rid of this practice."
One-Sign Single Sign-On and Secure Walk-Away
Imprivata's OneSignSingle Sign-On is designed to shorten workflow and save the user clicks.Access is gained through the tap of a key card on a workstation instead of having to remember and enter application usernames and passwords.Instead of being distracted by technology,it aims to free up care providers'time for patients.
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Using the OneSign Application Profile Generator,a profile is created and centrally deployed to users and groups.
"A cool feature that I love is the Secure Walk-Away face recognition technology,"said Eder.
Secure Walk-Away enables doctors and nurses to securely move from workstations,without having to keep logging in and out of systems.The workstation logs out when the user walks away and re-authenticates them upon returning by face recognition.
"We recently started to use this in the emergency department.We had tested fingerprint scanning before,but it wasn't really liked by the users.The face recognition has been well received so far,"added Eder.
Mark Clark,vice-president sales international,at Imprivata said that previously hospital staff had to navigate their way to patient data via several different log-in windows:
"It used to take 20-30 seconds for staff to eventually log in,so this needed eliminating.On average doctors and nursing could spend 30 minutes a day just trying to log in to the systems."
Self-service password management
When passwords are necessary,the hospital chose Imprivata's OneSign Self-Service Password Management.Without having to call the helpdesk,this feature enables users to retrieve lost passwords.An administrator selects a list of pre-determined or custom questions,for example,"What is your pet's name?"The user accesses a login screen where they need to answer the questions to retrieve their lost password.
"IT wanted to secure general passwords.Many people write their passwords down,which is not secure.The hospital needed speed of access and password management for security,"said Clark.
