Password Management for Healthcare Professionals

Password management in the healthcare industry is essential for maintaining the privacy of patient and employee information. HealthITSecurity reports that in just the first three months of 2024, there were over 115 data breaches in the healthcare industry. One of the most recent and largest data breaches in healthcare impacted over 2.3 million patients of Medical Management Resource Group at the end of 2023. Private patient data, including clinical records, medications, Social Security numbers and more, was hacked by cybercriminals.

Read on to learn why password management is so crucial in the healthcare industry and why Keeper^® has the best password manager for healthcare professionals.

The importance of password management in healthcare

Since healthcare professionals must obtain and store sensitive information about their patients, the privacy of those patients must be protected. An ideal way to protect the private information of both employees and patients is by having strong password management. 

Regulatory compliance standards

Having a password management system in place follows regulatory compliance standards like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Since HIPAA mandates that healthcare organizations have procedures in place to create, change and protect passwords, a password manager is the perfect solution because it allows you to do it all.

A password manager like Keeper Password Manager has a built-in password generator that can create strong and unique passwords to protect healthcare professionals’ online accounts. When BreachWatch is added, employees will get alerts about weak or compromised passwords, so they can replace them with stronger ones. Lastly, Keeper Password Manager protects passwords by securely storing them in an encrypted, digital vault; this means it cannot be compromised or hacked into by cybercriminals.

Patient Health Information (PHI)

Cybercriminals will target Patient Health Information (PHI) and sell it on the dark web. PHI includes personal information like your date of birth, full legal name, medical records and more. Following a data breach, cybercriminals work to gain access to patients’ medical records and sell them to people on the dark web looking for certain prescriptions.

The best password manager for healthcare professionals

Keeper is the best password manager for healthcare professionals for a variety of reasons. Don’t just take our word for it; see the difference Keeper Password Manager has made for Grand River Hospital District in Rifle, Colorado.

GRHD Network Engineer Daniel Wilson said, “We outgrew our paper master password list… We needed role-based permission for passwords and a better way to keep them secure.”

After Daniel and his team started using Keeper Password Manager, they were amazed by its secure zero-knowledge architecture, which means that only the user has access to their records and data. Let’s dive into what specifically makes Keeper the best password manager for healthcare professionals and how your organization can see a positive impact on your online safety.

Keeper is HIPAA compliant

Because Keeper is HIPAA compliant, it follows the security expectations and standards that you need from your ideal password manager as a healthcare professional. Since Keeper never has access to user data due to its zero-knowledge encryption, a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is unnecessary for HIPAA compliance. 

Keeper uses the strongest encryption

As previously mentioned, Keeper Password Manager is zero knowledge and uses the strongest encryption possible to protect sensitive patient information. A user’s data is encrypted and decrypted locally on their devices, which means that nobody – not even Keeper – can see any information a user puts in their private vault. Keeper’s zero-knowledge security is crucial because it protects organizations and individuals from data breaches.

Keeper is also a zero-trust solution. This is a security framework that assumes everyone, human or machine, could potentially be compromised. Everyone must be verified before accessing any private data. In the healthcare industry, this is a crucial layer of security to ensure that the right individuals are looking at patient information.

Keeper enables least-privilege access

Least-privilege access gives employees the minimum amount of network access (or user privileges) needed to do their jobs. Keeper enables least-privilege access to limit unnecessary privileges within an organization for employees who do not require certain access to get their jobs done. By doing so, least-privilege access can make your healthcare organization much safer by reducing insider threats and limiting potential pathways that cybercriminals could use to breach data. 

When you use Keeper Password Manager, you can securely store PHI and enable Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) to control employee access. Therefore, users won’t be able to access resources beyond their designated job functions, and this will reduce the chances of someone gaining access to more information.

Keeper supports 2FA

Keeper supports Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in many ways, including SMS, authenticator apps, Duo Security, RSA SecurID, Keeper DNA and physical keys such as Yubikey. Enabling 2FA adds an extra layer of security to every user’s Keeper Vault. With Keeper, 2FA can also be enforced through Keeper’s Role-Based Enforcement Policies to ensure every user within an organization has it enabled. 

Keeper offers large-scale deployment

While Keeper is a great personal password manager, Keeper Enterprise can be used at a large scale through Keeper SSO Connect. Instead of administrators manually setting up or deactivating each new or exiting employee, Keeper utilizes System for Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM) provisioning to make sure users only have access to what they need for their role. This reduces the amount of time and energy spent onboarding and offboarding employees on an administrative level with seamless provisioning.

Protecting healthcare professionals with Keeper

Working in the healthcare industry is challenging enough without any online safety concerns. Keeper Password Manager can help protect both healthcare professionals and patient information with its encrypted, zero-knowledge architecture.

Start a free 14-day trial of Keeper Business today to feel safer about your password management as a healthcare professional.