Notifications
Clear all
Topic starter
25/06/2026 12:13 am
TL;DR: Healthcare digital transformation is nearly doubling budget share for digital initiatives, from 4.8% to 9.7% year over year in the 2024 Digital Health Most Wired report, while clinicians still face security friction that can slow care delivery. Identity has become the control point that must balance security, compliance, and usable access without adding burnout.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Imprivata: Tech Leader Highlights the Role of Identity in Securing Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should healthcare organisations reduce login friction without weakening security?
A: They should align authentication strength to the clinical workflow, not apply one universal login pattern.
Q: Why does identity matter so much in healthcare digital transformation?
A: Identity determines whether clinicians can access systems quickly enough to support care while still preserving security, auditability, and compliance.
Q: What do healthcare teams get wrong about third-party access?
A: They often treat vendor access as temporary or exceptional, which leads to weak lifecycle control and poor visibility.
Practitioner guidance
- Map IAM controls to clinical workflows Review where authentication interrupts bedside work, shift handoffs, shared workstation use, and mobile access.
- Expand passwordless access for shared clinical devices Use passwordless authentication and frictionless MFA where clinicians repeatedly access shared endpoints.
- Govern third-party access as a separate identity class Inventory vendor and support accounts, define their approval path, and assign explicit expiry or review points.
What's in the full article
Imprivata's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- The practical examples of passwordless authentication and frictionless MFA in shared clinical environments.
- The discussion of facial biometrics for provider and patient access in day-to-day care settings.
- The role of shared mobile programmes for clinicians and how they affect access design.
- The rationale behind third-party access and user behaviour analytics in healthcare operations.
👉 Read Imprivata's analysis of identity-led healthcare digital transformation →
Healthcare identity and access: can security keep pace with care?
Explore further
25/06/2026 9:05 am
Identity has moved from a security function to a healthcare operating constraint. The article’s core point is that digital transformation in care delivery now depends on access architecture as much as on application architecture. When identity controls slow clinicians, they affect throughput, burnout, and even safety. The implication for the field is that healthcare IAM must be judged by operational fit, not only by control strength.
A few things that frame the scale:
- Companies are dedicating an average of 32.4% of their security budgets to secrets management and code security, with US organisations leading at 40.8%, according to The State of Secrets in AppSec.
- The average estimated time to remediate a leaked secret is 27 days, despite 75% of organisations expressing strong confidence in their secrets management capabilities.
A question worth separating out:
Q: How can teams tell whether access controls are helping rather than hindering care?
A: They should measure whether authentication and access steps increase delays, prompt workarounds, or create inconsistent use across shifts and devices. If controls are frequently bypassed or cause clinicians to lose time at the point of care, the design is out of balance and needs to be reworked.
👉 Read our full editorial: Identity is the backbone of healthcare digital transformation
