New Forrester study reveals COVID-driven Digital Identity issues and solutions

COVID-19 profoundly impacted healthcare IT, security, and compliance organizations. Many hospitals accelerated telehealth initiatives and shifted certain workers home to help stop the spread, creating remote access security challenges and technical support issues. At the same time, many healthcare organizations brought on new, temporary, and re-deployed personnel to meet staffing demands. These changes in staff created system onboarding challenges and security risks.

COVID-19 exposed the shortcomings of existing healthcare identity management systems and practices, and demonstrated the need for more automated and agile approaches.

Today, many technology decision-makers are re-evaluating priorities and taking a fresh look at their identity management and governance (IMG) solutions.

Forrester study presents key digital identity trends

With that in mind, Imprivata recently commissioned Forrester Consulting to take a look at current digital identity challenges, priorities, and strategies in the healthcare industry. Forrester surveyed 100+ North American security and risk professionals in healthcare organizations to get a pulse on the industry and gain insights into the latest identity and access management trends and issues.

The new Forrester study, Digital Identity: The Key to Optimizing Your Healthcare Ecosystem, reveals how healthcare delivery organizations are moving out of firefighting mode and taking a more strategic approach to identity management as life gradually returns to normal.

In the wake of COVID-19, healthcare IT and security leaders are looking for more efficient, scalable, and agile ways to onboard, authenticate, and authorize on-the-go clinicians, remote users, and constantly changing workforces. And most agree a healthcare-specific identity management and governance solution is the way to go.

Consensus: Healthcare-specific IMG solutions reduce risk and improve productivity

The study’s key findings include:

• Since the pandemic, organizations have shifted IMG priorities from basic utilization and turnover tasks to more advanced IMG tasks like reducing over-assignment of access/entitlements and improving efficiencies.
• Healthcare organizations struggle with getting the right access to the right users in a timely manner. Most decision-makers struggle to find the right solution and staff to manage identities.
• Healthcare business leaders believe a healthcare-specific vendor for an automated IMG solution would reduce risk of breach and noncompliance, and increase productivity.

Download the free study to learn more

The Forrester study explains how healthcare organizations are rethinking identity management systems and practices, looking for new ways to streamline operations, strengthen security, and prepare for the post-COVID world.

Want to get a better idea of what your industry peers are thinking and planning?

Download a complimentary copy of the Forrester study to learn more. The study reviews the top identity governance priorities for 2021, summarizes the most-pressing IMG operational challenges and security risks, and describes the main benefits of an automated, healthcare-specific IMG solution—all from the perspective of seasoned industry decision-makers.