HENRY FORD GOES TO SINGLE SIGN-ON

HealthcareIT News – While many are still evaluating single sign-on, Radiology Services at Henry Ford Health System is already a step beyond. To reduce access bottlenecks for 1,400 users spread across 13 Detroit-area sites, the department just completed an eight-month pilot of active-proximity technology that detects users from dozens of feet away. “As complex password aggravation grew, it became increasingly common for everyone to use one person’s access throughout a day,” Bonner said. “So, we evaluated four SSO solutions and Imprivata’s OneSign appliance offered the most sophisticated capabilities without adding development, administrative or network complexity overhead for our 20-person IT staff.” Imprivata’s native XyLoc support can make an attractive pairing for strong authentication. “Although XyLoc is a decade old and stable, it’s much easier to deploy when the underlying SSO supports it natively,” said Mark Diodati, senior analyst with the Burton Group. “Otherwise, XyLoc requires custom integration with the incumbent development, administration and support costs.” After a year of SSO deployment Bonner estimates basic features alone have trimmed help desk calls by an estimated $700,000 annually. “Ironically, strong authentication wasn’t originally a purchasing factor,” he said. “But, selecting Imprivata is permitting us to plan a department-wide expansion of active-proximity technology during the second half of 2009.”

About Ensure Technologies

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Ypsilanti, MI, Ensure Technologies is an innovative developer of intelligent security solutions designed to provide maximum security with minimal impact on users.  Ensure’s award-winning XyLoc family of products provides security for desktops, as well as the personalization and convenience users appreciate, at leading organizations in healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing, and law throughout the world.  For more information, please visit www.ensuretech.com.

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