South Manchester selects Imprivata for SSO

GE PACS system with Imprivata’s OneSign SSO technology

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust has chosen Imprivata OneSign for single sign-on, including fast user switching capabilities.

Around 4,500 of the trust’s staff will eventually be given access to the OneSign Platform, which will speed up access to patient information and provide full audit reporting. Currently, the platform is being used by radiologists using the trust’s GE PACS system and other legacy systems in the department.

Ray Burdge, the trust’s IT infrastructure manager, said: “Previously, each user would have to log out completely in order for the next one to start their session, even when seeing the same patient. This could take several minutes to complete.

"Using fast user switching, we can remove this overhead to improve efficiency, while making access easier for our staff – they can gain secure access to patient information in seconds. This was our main reason for choosing Imprivata.”

A further benefit to the trust was single sign-on. As a site with iSoft’s iPM system installed under the National Programme for IT in the NHS, almost 2,000 staff are using NHS Connecting for Health smartcards.

This requires users to authenticate themselves using a PIN and to remember separate multiple passwords for a series of legacy applications.

Burdge said: “By implementing fast user switching and single sign-on, clinician sessions can be switched more easily, allowing a higher level of productivity for users and greater security of patient information.”

The trust is enrolling clinical applications for single sign-on, including its PAS, picture archiving and communications system (PACS), and departmental packages such as radiology. Users enter their network log-in and are automatically given access to the applications that they are authorised to use.

Burdge said: “We are using the NHS CFH smart card as a factor for strong authentication so users will automatically get secure access into all the clinical applications they require, including our PAS and PACS systems.

“Our ultimate goal is that our users benefit from the fastest possible access to clinical applications, and using Imprivata OneSign will help us achieve this.

“We will be providing clinicians without smart cards with chip-and-pin style cards, so they too have to meet authentication standards.

“The first thing we’d like to do is to use the technology on proximity devices, so a card reader can sense and log a doctor in from a certain distance – and they simply have to authenticate themselves when they get to the platform, saving considerable time.”

Burdge said the company was waiting for NHS CFH to tell it which proximity devices are recommended for use by the NHS before they begin work. He anticipates that this will be announced in the next few months.

Omar Hussain, CEO of Imprivata, said: “The approach that South Manchester has taken, with the combination of single sign-on with fast user switching and strong authentication, demonstrates how NHS trusts can improve speed of access and overall efficiency for clinical staff.”

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