Imprivata Virtual Smartcard assured for use by NHS Trusts

Digital identity company Imprivata has achieved full assurance from NHS Digital for Imprivata OneSign Spine Combined Workflow Plus which includes Imprivata Virtual Smartcard.

The virtual smartcard solution was successfully piloted at South Tees Hospitals NHS FT as part of the assurance process, where it was proven to dramatically reduce time to login to the NHS Spine.

The solution also reduces the number of logins required during a shift and streamlines clinical workflows, reducing the barrier to technology and releasing clinicians’ time and attention back to patient care.

A second pilot at an NHS Trust in the South of England has also been completed.

Angela Hopton, ICT System Support Services Manager, Registration Authority at South Tees Hospitals NHS FT commented:

“The Trust is currently deploying Imprivata OneSign, so when we heard about Imprivata Spine Combined Workflow Plus, which includes Imprivata Virtual Smartcard, we were delighted as it solves a number of issues for us.

“The pilot has been run in the Diabetes Care Centre, with positive feedback from clinicians.

“As well as providing a better experience for users, Imprivata Virtual Smartcard takes up significantly less resource for ICT, as well as removing issues such as sourcing physical cards, printers, consumables and card readers.”

Imprivata has worked alongside to agree the design and implementation for the Imprivata OneSign Spine Combined Workflow Plus solution that meets all of NHS Digital’s requirements.

The solution includes the Imprivata Virtual Smartcard.

The technology removes the need for clinicians to remember login details which saves time throughout the day as they access the NHS Spine, allowing greater focus on delivering patient care.

Andrew Harrison, Principle Product Manager, International at Imprivata said:

“At Imprivata we have always been committed to providing solutions that remove the barrier to technology for clinicians enabling them to focus on their patients, while safe-guarding sensitive patient data.

“The Imprivata Virtual Smartcard is a significant evolution in access management.

“Clinicians only need to tap on to a computer to log into Spine-enabled applications from any location or device without the near half minute wait associated with physical smartcards.

“We received great feedback from clinicians, registration authorities and the IT department at South Tees.”