According to new research, 85 percent of healthcare IT leaders view passwordless authentication as very important or mission-critical to the future of healthcare, citing its potential to strengthen cybersecurity, reduce clinician frustration, and streamline access to applications and other resources.
However, the report from Imprivata finds only seven percent of organizations have fully implemented passwordless access for clinical and non-clinical staff, underscoring a sizable gap in adoption and hindering progress toward achieving these security and operational gains.
While most respondents recognize the value of advanced access, 60 percent of healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) still rely heavily on passwords, resulting in significant operational and clinical impacts, including risky password workarounds (according to 46 percent of respondents), increased risk of security incidents or breaches (42 percent), delays in patient care (41 percent) and increased IT/help desk workload (40 percent).
“Healthcare organizations recognize that password-heavy environments are no longer sustainable,” says Chip Hughes, chief product officer at Imprivata. “Clinicians need fast, intuitive workflows, and security teams need stronger protection against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. This survey shows that moving beyond passwords is now both a strategic necessity and a foundational step toward a more cyber-resilient and operationally efficient healthcare system.”
Respondents overwhelmingly acknowledge that traditional passwords are no longer viable for the speed, complexity, and security demands of modern healthcare environments — 63 percent consider passwordless authentication very important and 22 percent think it mission-critical to the future of healthcare security and efficiency.
There are other advanced access capabilities that are viewed by respondents as most valuable to security strategy. These include continuous session monitoring (81 percent of respondents), risk-based authentication (74 percent), offline multi-factor authentication (73 percent), and self-service password reset/unlock (71 percent).
“Healthcare leaders understand that password-heavy workflows are slowing clinicians down and introducing unnecessary risk,” says Dr. Sean Kelly, chief medical officer at Imprivata. “This report underscores what the industry needs next: access solutions that remove friction, protect patients, and modernize authentication for a passwordless future.”
You can access the full report on the Imprivata site.
Image credit: Momius/depositphotos.com
