The Future Of Authentication Is Here: Hands Free Authentication

 

Wireless technology is the future of authentication - a future we're happy to welcome. The promises of DEA-compliant wireless authentication technologies are immense: they will foster simpler, more user-friendly authentication options, streamline clinical workflows, and enhance patient care. That's why I'm happy that Imprivata is launching the first of many future products to embrace wireless authentication technologies for healthcare: Hands Free Authentication, a breakthrough proximity-based hands-free authentication solution. The solution's patented technology wirelessly retrieves and verifies a one-time password (OTP) from a user’s mobile device, without requiring the user to touch or handle their phone. This enables fast, convenient two-factor authentication that meets DEA requirements for electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS). The new capability will be offered with Imprivata Confirm ID™, the industry’s most comprehensive authentication platform for EPCS.

We've been working towards this innovation for several years, and are delighted to see it coming to fruition. Configuring our wireless authentication solution to meet the DEA's strict authentication requirements has been a real exercise in innovation and creativity, given the constraints of using out of band network authentication. Ultimately, we opted for a bluetooth-enabled proximity authentication solution that meets all the DEA's requirements and satisfies time-crunched clinicians. Our Hands Free Authentication solution uses a clinician's mobile phone, enrolled in their hospital's system, to verify the clinician’s identity and presence as one of the two factors in their two-factor authentication process required for EPCS. It's a perfect replacement for traditional hard or soft token codes that clinicians have to manually type into their EMR software. 

Today, mobile phones are the most prevalent personal devices that clinicians carry with them. But in the future, the possibilities for personal devices will be endless. Wearable devices will become part of the Internet of things and users will carry more than a single phone; they may have a watch, a fitness device, a headset, a pair of smart shoes, and a pair of smart glasses. All of these devices will be able to communicate with one another through a 'piconet.' And, if they're all moving together they will be able to vouch for your identity.

We've been looking into the authentication potential of these technologies for several years and are confident that Hands Free Authentication will be the start of a huge trend in the healthcare industry. Hands Free Authentication and The Internet of Things is going to simplify authentication securely and offer clinicians substantial timesavings and increased convenience. We're really excited about this prospect and we're looking forward to helping create a faster, more convenient, more secure way for clinicians to prescribe patients the medications they need.