UPMC announced Thursday that it will collaborate with Oracle to develop cloud-based identity management technology meant for small and midsized health care providers.

Through the new project, called CloudConnect Health IT, UPMC will help these providers implement Oracle Identity Management applications, enhanced by health care-specific processes developed at UPMC to meet the needs of clinicians.

CloudConnect Health IT will enable healthcare users to easily manage computer accounts, including adding, modifying and terminating a user’s computer access, officials say. They'll also help providers manage access based on the user’s job responsibility and provide self-service tools for retrieving forgotten passwords and unlocking accounts, as well as offer comprehensive management reporting.

“Identity management is critical to improving staff efficiency, reducing administrative burdens, enforcing security and addressing regulatory compliance," said John Houston, vice president of information security and privacy at UPMC. "However, many small to midsized providers have not adopted an identity management solution because of cost and implementation complexity."

UPMC recently chose Oracle’s suite of security products to replace its own successful, homegrown identity management system. The new service is built on Oracle Identity Governance, Oracle Access Management and Oracle Directory Services for ease of use, support and scalability that will be required in the cloud.

“Given UPMC’s impressive track record in identity management, Oracle believes that CloudConnect Health IT will offer an effective solution,” said Marc Boroditsky, vice president, Oracle Identity Management. “We look forward to working with UPMC to deliver these critical tools to small and midsized providers, all of which are facing greater demands for information security as they cope with growing financial constraints.”

Pittsburgh-based Tier1 Inc., a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, will also assist in delivering the CloudConnect Health IT product to customers.

[See also: Identity verification key to PHR uptake]