Podcast: Dr. Sean Kelly says biometrics offer security, efficiency for healthcare

A new survey from Imprivata shows a shocking gap between how healthcare professionals see passwordless authentication, and how healthcare facilities operate in practice. Even though most say it’s past time to upgrade to more sophisticated authentication, fewer than 10 percent of healthcare organizations have gone passwordless.

“Healthcare leaders understand that password-heavy workflows are slowing clinicians down and introducing unnecessary risk,” says Dr. Sean Kelly, Chief Medical Officer at Imprivata. “This report underscores what the industry needs next: access solutions that remove friction, protect patients, and modernize authentication for a passwordless future.”

“The long and the short of it is, we know we’re using an antiquated system framework that relies heavily on passwords, which have been around since the 1960s,” Kelly says. As the system has aged, it has necessarily become more complex – and also more burdensome. That’s a critical issue for clinicians in emergency scenarios.

“Security is trying to make things as locked-down and tight as possible, but by creating a system that’s very locked down, it prevents doctors and nurses and others from getting in quickly, if they’re blocked by a long, complex password. They mistype it three times and suddenly they’re locked out and on the phone to the help desk.”

Kelly says that’s one thing if you’re at home in your office. “But if you’re in the ER, where I still work as a doctor, and someone’s rolling in front of you having a stroke, it’s literally time-dependent, and seconds matter.”

He believes that, although the change of pace is slow and there is natural apprehension, healthcare workers are starting to recognize how the benefits of biometrics, passkeys and other passwordless options for access outweigh the risks.

““It’s easier. But it’s also highly effective.”

Listen to the full conversation with Imprivata’s Dr. Sean Kelly for more insights on trust, biometrics and the future of authentication in healthcare.

Listen now: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Podbean

Runtime: 00:27:53

Article Topics

Biometric Update Podcast  |  biometrics  |  healthcare  |  Imprivata  |  passwordless authentication