Healthcare

User and Endpoint Security in Healthcare

Access to technology as a means of improving a patient's standard of care while also maintaining patient privacy is of critical importance in healthcare. With the widespread use of wired and wireless LAN (WLAN) technology by many healthcare organizations the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act mandates steps be taken to secure electronic healthcare information.

New standards in WLAN technology have enabled end-to-end data, voice and video applications, improved patient care, and increased staff productivity. Patients and guests also benefit from wireless networks by gaining high-speed Internet access, so that they can stay connected. With this new flexibility come new challenges.

Addressing Wireless Challenges

While convenient, wireless networks raise security and compliance concerns, including:

• The healthcare environment itself - A busy hospital is packed with employees, contractors, patients, friends and relatives and other visitors, any of which may have a reason to access the network. Restricting access based on role is a requirement
• It's easier than ever to gain network access - The potential for unauthorized access grows as wireless laptops and handheld devices are prevalent and anyone can potentially access the many clinical applications used in today's healthcare environment
• Device verification - The large number of unmanaged or non 802.1X capable wireless devices in the healthcare environment can be difficult to authenticate as approved devices

How Avenda's eTIPS Makes a Difference

Avenda's identity-aware NAC solution (eTIPS) addresses all of these concerns and more. Each user who accesses the network is granted a defined set of privileges in accordance with the organization's security requirements. Policies and device registration can be applied so that only known computers, handheld devices, mobile workstations and wireless infrastructure gain access to restricted areas of the network.

Guest access functionality provides the ability to differentiate the patient and visitor network from the healthcare and administrative networks. It is also easy for non-technical, administrative staff to provision network access for these temporary visitors, including the ability to automatically time out a user's access.

Avenda's solution offers numerous security mechanisms for wireless, as well as wired and VPN access, making it practical, scalable, and affordable for healthcare organizations of all sizes.