Connected, Secure, Efficient: Transforming Aged Care Through Better Access to Patient Information

February 9, 2026

Imprivata is proud to be an affiliate of Aging Australia Imprivata | Ageing Australia

1. Executive Summary

Feedback has been amazing from our carers and clinicians working across all Sundale facilities that have adopted the new solution. Everyone loves Imprivata tap on/tap off.”

--Grant Morris, ICT Project Manager at Sundale Ltd.

As the aged care industry looks to evolve to meet the current and future needs of the citizens of Australia, technology is set to play a key role.

Digital transformation across the sector will enable organisations providing aged care services to meet new government requirements for the quality of care provided. Requirements include a minimum number of minutes of care to be provided per resident per day, some of which should be provided by a registered nurse. All of which needs to be accurately documented in order to secure Government funding.

The Government’s Aged Care Worker Survey 2024 report finds that most people work in aged care because they want to make a difference to older people’s lives. Yet many of them work extra unpaid hours because there is more work to do than they can get through during their shift.

There is also now a greater emphasis to be placed on the experience of the people receiving the care. When workers are stressed because they can’t access resident information quickly, have forgotten a complex password, or are writing notes manually to input to the system after their shift, their attention is diverted, to the detriment of the resident.

Technology will provide the platform for increased efficiency, greater user engagement, freeing up nurses and care workers to focus on residents and do what they signed up for – looking after people.

This white paper sets out the challenges and how connected, secure and efficient access to resident and clinical information pays dividends. Enterprise Access Management saves time for busy clinicians, nurses and care workers, improves cybersecurity, protects resident confidentiality, supports improved compliance, AND, users just love it!

Read on to find out more.

“Imprivata has enabled us to greatly increase data security AND improve the user experience. These two goals are no longer mutually exclusive as has been the case in the past, thanks to Imprivata.” Lani Maxfield, Senior Systems Engineer, Sundale Ltd.

2. Introduction: The State of Australian Aged Care

The Treasury of the Australian Government’s Intergenerational Report forecasts that by 2062, the number of people aged over 65 is expected to more than double. The number of people over the age of 85 will more than triple. The aged care sector workforce is already under strain and will need to increase to meet this demand.

As well as the pressure of increasing demand, the sector is also tasked with improving the quality of care provided. On 1 November 2025, the new Aged Care Act 2024 commenced, bringing with it some key changes to the way that aged care providers operate and the obligations they must meet.Two of the guiding principles are:

Trusted - Trust, privacy and security need to be safeguarded. Consent, confidence and trust in how personal information is secured and used is fundamental. Initiatives involving the sharing of sensitive information are tightly controlled to uphold the privacy of individuals.
Care-focused - Burden for frontline workers should be minimised so they can focus on providing high-quality care. Implementation of actions ensures the important work of aged care workers is supported by tools and processes that allow them to focus on providing quality care to older people.

In order to meet the requirements to qualify for funding under the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) model, organisations must provide mandatary minutes of care per resident, per day. In addition, there is now a greater focus on the experience of the people receiving care.

The sector is transitioning, however, according to the Inspector-General of Aged Care – 2025 Progress Report on Royal Commission Recommendations progress has not been as swift as was originally hoped. The StewartBrown Aged Care Financial Performance Survey Report notes that the sector in general is not making enough margin on services provided. If the aged care sector is to rise to meet the challenges it faces, better use of technology and digitisation will help to deliver care more effectively, more efficiently, more safely, and, more profitably.

According to the Australian Hospitals and Healthcare Association Digital maturity models for primary healthcare, digital information, when used appropriately, has the potential to transform the quality and sustainability of health and healthcare services. Digital technologies are now increasingly seen as an essential resource in primary care, with common uses being in clinical decision support systems, quality of care, tracking of medical supplies and infectious disease surveillance. While Aged Care is not strictly speaking primary care, it is closely aligned, and uses many similar systems including the electronic medical/health record.

Advancing data and digital technologies will also help aged care providers to:

manage current and future service demand
reduce administrative burden
give workers more time to spend on direct care

This point is underlined by the Government’s Intergenerational Report which suggests that up to one-third of time spent on administrative tasks can be saved by embedding digital technology, increasing the digital capability of the aged care workforce and introducing new policies on data sharing. Based on departmental work projections, digital enablement also has the potential to reduce the estimated shortfall in the aged care workforce.

By providing a more fulfilling work environment, freed from some of the more laborious admin elements such as long complex logins multiple times per hour, where staff can focus on providing care, residential care facilities should be able to attract and retain key workers. With strong access management in place, carers can ensure fast, secure access to resident information, thereby doing what it is they’re best at – caring for residents.

3. Regulatory Drivers Shaping Identity and Access Governance

While the increased adoption of digital technology will help the aged care sector to become more efficient, and provides the means to prove that the appropriate care is being provided, there can be barriers to adoption from staff that are less tech-savvy. It also brings with it increased risks to patient privacy, and opens the door to cyberattacks.

As well as a changing landscape for providing care, with strengthening quality standards, digitisation brings additional regulatory requirements. For example, the Privacy Act Amendment 2024 has increased penalties for breaches of privacy and has strengthened breach notification requirements.

As one Australia’s 11 designated critical infrastructure sectors, healthcare and medical is subject to the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy and must be able to withstand and bounce back from cyberattacks. The Strategy sets out a bold vision for Australia to be a world leader in cyber security by 2030. Key to this is protecting critical infrastructure on which Australia’s essential services rely.

Beyond the personal toll on victims, identity theft has a substantial collective impact on society at large. The most recent survey in 2019 indicated that identity theft has cost Australia more than $3.1 billion and has affected 20 per cent of Australians. If identities can be easily stolen or defrauded, communities may lose trust in public institutions, including aged care residential facilities.

Use of technology such as single sign-on (SSO) not only provides fast, secure access to clinical systems to authorised users, giving more time back to focus on delivering quality care to residents, it also provides an audit trail of who provided what care/treatment to whom, and when. This ensures compliance with information governance regulations. In addition, without the need to remember complex passwords, a significant burden is removed from the IT helpdesk. Industry sources estimate that password related calls to the IT helpdesk can account for 40-50% of calls. Reducing the volume of calls frees up IT staff to focus on more proactive and fulfilling work.

4. The Digital Transformation Imperative

Modern Aged Care requires an increasing number of applications to deliver a connected, efficient and safe service, including resident care software (electronic care records - ECR), clinical applications accessed at the point of care via mobile devices, and an increasing number of connected devices (Internet of Medical Things – IoMT). All these systems need to be easy to access, easy to use for care providers, and, need to be maintained and updated by IT. As the reliance on, and the complexity of, systems grow so too does the burden on IT to ensure that applications remain up-to-date with the latest patches, and as protected as they can be from malicious actors looking to disruption systems, and steal lucrative patient information.

The proliferation of digital systems means that healthcare workers now need to perform multiple logins to access information in different systems. These login credentials often include long complex passwords to safeguard patient information, making them time consuming, and inconvenient when wearing gloves or when using mobile devices with small or no keyboards.

Not only are care workers required to login to access patient information many times during a shift, carers need to authenticate when witnessing or prescribing medicines, adding further to the IT burden and potentially contributing to staff burnout.

As reliance on digital systems grows so too does the potential for a debilitating cyberattack. To help organisations protect against the disruption that can be caused by a serious outage of systems, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has developed prioritised strategies to mitigate cybersecurity incidents.

The most effective of these mitigation strategies are the Essential Eight, listed here:

patch applications
patch operating systems
multi-factor authentication
restrict administrative privileges
application control
restrict Microsoft Office macros
user application hardening
regular backups.

These mitigation strategies are significantly supported and enabled by the use of technologies such as Imprivata’s Enterprise Access Management with single sign-on, and multi-factor authentication, Mobile Access Management, Mobile Device Access and Privileged Access Security.

You can read more about Imprivata’s support for Essential 8 here: LINK to new white paper

5. Core Aged Care Challenges and How Imprivata Addresses Them

Aged Care organisations are managing a complex balancing act of keeping care workers efficient and effective with fast access to the systems they need to do their jobs, while also protecting those very systems.In short, IT must let the good guys in while keeping the bad guys out and in doing so, face a series of challenges.

Challenge 1: Workforce mobility

The Australian government is committed to raising the quality of aged care by building a skilled, valued and supported workforce. Strengthening the aged care workforce is essential to providing older people with the high-quality care they deserve. According to the Aged Care Worker Survey 2024 report, in general, respondents choose to work in aged care to make a positive change in the lives of older people, however, many are doing unpaid work on top of their contracted hours, often because there was just too much work to do.

The requirement to login multiple times per shift to many different systems is time consuming and distracts the clinician from their patient. Enterprise Access Management with single sign-on (SSO) and badge-tap authentication gives care workers near-instant access without the need to remember complex passwords. This frees up carers to focus on delivering the appropriate care, improving the experience of residents.

Multi-factor authentication, which can use biometrics and FIDO badges, is fast and secure, even when carer workers are wearing PPE or gloves. As carers move from location to location throughout their shift, a simple tap-on/tap-off to access resident information means that they are able to access all of the applications they need easily.

Challenge 2: Clinical efficiency.

Fast, frictionless access to clinical information saves significant amounts of time. A peer reviewed study conducted between 2018 and 2024 across 55 urban hospitals in the UK and Ireland into the time savings associated with single sign-on (SSO) demonstrated considerable benefits. Clinicians experience a 60% reduction in desktop login time and over 50% faster application access with SSO.Specifically, the research showed that 3.3 million clinician hourswere redirected annually from logging-in to patient care - equivalent to over 278,000 clinician shifts of 12 hours duration across the 55 participating hospitals.

While the solution is not focused on cost-cutting, this reclaimed time can help to improve patient throughput, staff satisfaction, use of resources, and patient care. On average, each hospital gained nearly AUS$2.02 million/year in the value of freed clinician time, demonstrating a substantial return on investment.

Mobile Access Management provides additional benefits when use of mobile devices is streamlined, allowing clinicians to select a device from the docking station that is reset from previous sessions, charged, and ready to go.

Challenge 3: Cybersecurity threats

Healthcare organisations are one of the top targets for cyber-criminals hoping to profit by stealing ultra-sensitive, and highly valuable patient information. To protect this data, IT has the challenge of providing access to care workers so that they can treat residents, while also ensuring that cybersecurity processes meet stringent data protection regulations.

Passwords are often the weakest link in the security chain because they can be hacked, phished or guessed. Use of generic accounts or shared credentials means there is no accountability for individuals, and therefore no audit trail that can be analysed should an incident occur.

Imprivata Enterprise Access Management with multi-factor authentication (MFA) removes this risk by giving care workers secure, passwordless access to electronic care records and other clinical systems with a simple badge tap. Imprivata EAM can be used with biometrics and FIDO badges for MFA, supporting a zero trust approach and helping to provide robust identity governance. Eliminating implicit trust helps to mitigate risks from phishing, ransomware, and stolen credentials. Role-based permissions, which can be centrally managed, means that carer workers have only the access they need to do their jobs on that day, and redundant accounts are closed down when they are no longer needed.

Challenge 4: Shared mobile devices

The use of shared mobile devices is bringing clinical information to the bedside/point of care. Growth in the utilisation of shared-use mobile devices in healthcare is increasing because they offer greater workflow flexibility, relative cost savings compared to each individual using a unique device, and improved efficiency in accessing information quickly and easily from any location within or outside the facility or clinic. The expanding Internet of Medical Things is also driving mobile device adoption and optimisation, with the number of IoMT devices globally projected to grow 131% by 2026.

This expansion of the Internet of Medical Things has brought innovative new solutions to healthcare (for example, remote mobile access to vital signs monitoring) that enable the fast and secure transfer of data. However, achieving efficient workflows on mobile devices that also maintain information security and privacy is still a challenge. Care workers are able to access resident information and various clinical systems that enable them to provide the best care possible. However, devices with small or no keyboards make logging in particularly challenging for busy carers. These issues are magnified when devices are shared, often leading to the use of generic accounts or credential sharing, meaning that there is no reliable audit trail. On top of this there is the added challenge of keeping track of the devices and ensuring that they are charged and ready for the next user.

Imprivata is the leading supplier of solutions to manage the unique requirements of healthcare and shared use mobile devices. Where most access management solutions are designed for one user and one desktop or device, providing usable access to shared devices is more of a challenge.

Imprivata provides secure, seamless access to shared mobile devices and apps. With simple authentication and a mobile-first security approach, organisations can safeguard against mobile device attacks, drive accountability, boost productivity, and maximise their mobile ROI.

Imprivata Mobile Access Management provides traceable shared access to Android devices with fast user switching, supporting bedside and on-the-go workflows. You can read more about this in the case study: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust deploys Imprivata Mobile Device Access to enforce security and compliance for clinical mobile workflows

Imprivata Mobile Device Access provides zero-touch provisioning and reset for iOS devices with application/catalogue delivery and certificate management for rapid swap-outs.

Challenge 5: Compliance and audit—centralised reporting via Imprivata.

Imprivata enables aged care organisations to strike the right balance between security and friction-free access to optimise clinical workflows.

With an automated, centralised access management solution IT can see exactly who logged in, when and where. This enhanced visibility supports compliance. The standardisation of data collection, dashboards and automated reports streamlines security audit preparation and compliance reports for data privacy regulations and for AN-ACC funding returns (for minutes of care provided per resident per day).

6. Imprivata Solution Architecture for Aged Care

Imprivata provides a single, clinical-grade access layer across desktop, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and shared mobile devices.It provides deep integrations with EHR/EMR, PACS (Picture Archiving), VDI, Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and, badge and smartcard systems.

Diagram here to show Imprivata’s Solution Stack

Imprivata’s simple and secure access management enables aged care organisations to standardise policy, accelerate onboarding, reduce helpdesk load and strengthen cyber and data privacy posture. All of this gives time back to care workers to focus on their residents while lowering the cost to serve.

7. Case Study Examples with Expected Outcomes

Single Sign-On Time Savings Quantified

Healthcare IT teams have struggled to balance cybersecurity compliance and clinical efficiency. Each new digital system required for care delivery, like electronic care records (ECRs), prescription services, lab portals, etc., adds another login to a busy carer’s workflow. Many juggle up to 20 separate credentials per shift, according to new research published byAdvances in Health Information Science and Practice (AHISP).

The peer-reviewed study, which was conducted by Dr.George A. Gellert MD, MPH, MPA, an epidemiologist focused on using information technology to improve public health outcomes, in association with Imprivata. covering 55 hospitals in the UK and Ireland, found that clinicians collectively lose millions of hours each year to logging in, draining both productivity and morale. The research shows that SSO has freed 3.3 million clinician hours annually, equal to 278,000 twelve-hour shifts—and generated AUS$ 109.03 million in value. On average, each facility reclaimed nearly AUS$2 million in productive time.

Sundale Ltd improves usability, efficiency and security in clinical and care workflows while enhancing data collection to meet new compliance requirements

Sundale Ltd, located in Queensland, is a community based, not for profit organisation that supports the needs of its area by providing retirement communities, care centres and in-home care support services.

Challenge – the new aged care regulation and reporting requirements for AN-ACC funding required rapid documentation to prove that 200 (rising to 215) minutes of care is provided per bed per resident per day.

Without SSO employees had to remember multiple user IDs and passwords to gain access to the different systems and applications used to deliver modern health and care services. There was an inconsistent user experience when accessing information across different devices and systems (laptop. desktop, Citrix, mobile, tablet) leading to staff frustration . Generic passwords were used for some devices and systems leading to sub-optimal security and auditability.

Solution – Imprivata Enterprise Access Management for single sign-on is used across all workstations within the Sundale organisation. Imprivata Mobile Device Access facilitates access via the wide range of devices used in clinical workflows.

Results– Improved workflows and time savings have enhanced resident care and safety. Progress notes are now updated in real time, rather than being written down and input at the end of shifts.

Due to the ease of the ‘tap on/tap off’ functionality and enthusiastic user acceptance, Imprivata EAM/SSO has now been extended to administrators, catering and maintenance teams across the group.

“Feedback has been amazing from our carers and clinicians working across all Sundale facilities that have adopted the new solution. Everyone loves Imprivata tap on/tap off.” Grant Morris, ICT Project Manager at Sundale Ltd.

8. Conclusion

As the aged care sector faces the continuing challenges of meeting ever greater demand for its services, and improving the quality of care provided, digital transformation will supply the operational step change required to meet these goals.

Imprivata provides supporting technology that enables healthcare organisations delivering value across key areas.

Improved Clinical Quality – Fast, frictionless access to clinical information systems and e-Med systems, means there is no need for workarounds, such as generic user accounts, or shared credentials. Care workers are able to focus on what they do best, looking after residents and providing quality care.

Stronger Compliance – When all carers use their own login accounts, evidence-ready audit trails and tighter access controls ensure robust compliance with information governance and clinical compliance requirements.

Cyber and Privacy Protection – Enforced role-based access means that care workers have access to only those systems they need to do their job on that day. This reduces the risk from lost or compromised credentials, and protects privileged accounts from being targeted by cyber criminals.

Operational Efficiency– Significantly reduced login times have been proven to save time, and reduce fatigue for care workers, leading to improved workforce utilisation as carers are able to focus more on their residents.

Future-Ready Digital Ecosystem – Imprivata provides a scalable identity layer that supports broader digital transformation initiatives, for example, patient/resident identity, privileged access security for both internal and external/trusted third party access, and advanced IA-driven analytics that highlight abnormal access patterns and behaviours.

For more information or to book a demonstration please call: +61 3 8844 5533

Or visit: https://www.imprivata.com/request-demo

9. Appendix – Further Reading

Aged Care Worker Survey 2024 Report

https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-12/aged-care-worker-survey-2024-report.pdf

Intergenerational Report 2023 - Australia’s future to 2063

https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-08/p2023-435150.pdf

Aged Care Bill 2024 – Effective 1 November 2025

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/guide-to-aged-care-law/overview/the-aged-care-rules

Inspector-General of Aged Care – 2025 Progress Report on Royal Commission Recommendations

https://www.igac.gov.au/resources/2025-progress-report-implementation-recommendations-royal-commission-aged-care-quality-and-safety

Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy 2024–2029 (Dept. of Health and Aged Care)

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/aged-care-data-and-digital-strategy-2024-2029

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission – Quality Standards (including Strengthened Quality Standards)

https://www.agedcarequality.gov.au/providers/quality-standards

Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety – Main Site

https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/aged-care

Recommendations: https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2021-03/final-report-recommendations.pdf

Aged Care Workforce

https://www.cyber.gov.au/business-government/asds-cyber-security-frameworks/essential-eight/essential-eight-explained

Making a difference to patient care: The true value of access in clinical workflows

https://www.imprivata.com/blog/imprivata-guest-blog-dr-gellert-value-sso-research

Sundale Ltd improves usability, efficiency and security of clinical and care workflows while enhancing data collection for new compliance requirements

https://www.imprivata.com/resources/success-stories/sundale-ltd-improves-usability-efficiency-and-security-clinical-and-care

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust deploys Imprivata Mobile Device Access to enforce security and compliance for clinical mobile workflows

https://www.imprivata.com/resources/success-stories/surrey-and-sussex-healthcare-nhs-trust-deploys-imprivata-mobile-device

StewartBrown Aged Care Financial Performance Survey Report March 2025

https://www.stewartbrown.com.au/images/documents/StewartBrown_-_Aged_Care_Financial_Performance_Survey_Report_March_2025.pdf