Notifications
Clear all
Topic starter
25/06/2026 10:48 pm
TL;DR: Shared mobile devices in healthcare deliver workflow, clinical, and cost benefits, but the 2025 Imprivata state of shared mobile devices in healthcare report shows that 44% of facilities still lack comprehensive policies and 87% struggle with device access, creating avoidable security and operational friction. Shared mobile only pays off when identity-driven controls, real-time tracking, and standardised governance replace informal handoffs.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Imprivata: The 2025 state of shared mobile devices in healthcare
By the numbers:
- 92% of survey respondents recognize mobile devices as vital tools, with shared-use models being preferred over individually allocated or bring-your-own-device solutions.
- 44% of healthcare facilities currently lack comprehensive policies for managing shared mobile devices.
- 87% of respondents identified difficulties accessing shared-use devices, partly due to outdated authentication methods like usernames and passwords.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should healthcare organisations govern shared mobile devices without slowing clinical work?
A: Use identity-driven checkout, centralised asset tracking, and simple role-based policies so access is fast but still attributable.
Q: Why do shared mobile programmes fail when access is managed informally?
A: They fail because informal handoffs break the audit trail between the person, the device, and the return event.
Q: What signals show a shared device programme is under-controlled?
A: Repeated device loss, slow start-of-shift assignment, inconsistent checkout practices, and reliance on spreadsheets or verbal instructions are all warning signs.
Practitioner guidance
- Make checkout an identity event Tie shared device assignment to badge tap, SSO, or another policy-enforced access step so the handoff creates a verifiable record instead of a verbal promise.
- Replace informal allocation methods Retire sign-out sheets, spreadsheets, and first-come, first-served sharing in favour of centralised tracking that shows who has each device and when it was returned.
- Standardise shared-device policy by role Define who may take which device, under what shift conditions, and what must happen at return so clinical teams do not invent their own allocation rules.
What's in the full report
Imprivata's full report covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- The report breaks down shared-mobile adoption and satisfaction data by clinical and IT use case.
- It includes the exact operational pain points behind device checkout delays and device loss.
- It shows how policy maturity changes annual savings and ROI for shared-device programmes.
- It provides the vendor's recommended workflow and governance model for shared mobile management.
👉 Read Imprivata's report on shared mobile devices in healthcare →
Shared mobile devices in healthcare: what identity teams must fix?
Explore further
25/06/2026 11:28 pm
Shared mobile governance is becoming a core identity control, not a facilities issue. The report shows that pooled devices now sit inside the clinical identity plane because access, accountability, and productivity all depend on the same checkout process. That means identity leaders need to treat shared mobile as part of IAM and governance design rather than as an endpoint convenience feature. The practical conclusion is that mobility programmes now need identity ownership.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 80% of identity breaches involved compromised non-human identities such as service accounts and API keys, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- 91.6% of secrets remain valid five days after the targeted organisation is notified, showing that delayed remediation is still a common control gap.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who should own shared mobile governance in healthcare?
A: Ownership should sit jointly with identity, endpoint, and operational leaders because shared mobile is both an access problem and an asset-control problem. Identity teams define who can use the device, IT enforces tracking, and clinical operations define the workflow.
👉 Read our full editorial: Shared mobile access management is now an identity governance issue
