Single-sign-on (SSO) technology can dramatically decrease the amount of time clinicians spend trying to access various forms of electronic medical records, according to a new report.

The report was released Wednesday by The Ponemon Institute, a privacy and information management research firm, and SSO technology provider, Imprivata. It showed that the average clinician spends 122 hours a year (three weeks) trying to access various forms of electronic medical records due to the overabundance of passwords and logins being managed to access the applications needed for accessing patient care.

SSO automates the login process, enabling clinicians to logon only once to their desktop in order to gain fast access to all their applications. According to the national study, SSO technology can reduce the amount of time clinicians spend on the access process and has the potential to save providers more than $2 million on average, annually.  These results show a significant opportunity for acute care hospitals healthcare systems to increase physician workflow, generate new capital and, ultimately, improve the overall quality of care delivered to their patients.

"The results of this survey validate the significant need for SSO technology in the healthcare industry. In addition to necessary security gains, this technology is proven to generate very significant cost and time savings," said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. "Healthcare systems using this technology can benefit from productivity and cost gains that could help transform their organizations. That time and money can be redeployed to areas that will drive improvements in patient care, including the addition of new staff or other life saving medical technology."

Key findings of the survey include:

• SSO technology saves clinicians an average of 9.51 minutes a day (122 hours per year)
• This time savings is translated into an estimated $2,675 per clinician each year which yields a total annual savings of more than $2.6 million
• 83 percent of respondents believe SSO simplifies access to applications and data
• The study found that prior to SSO, users had an average of 6.4 different passwords or pins required to access critical applications and patient data
• Approximately 70 percent of respondents believe SSO is important or very important to the adoption of EMR and related systems
• 60 percent of all respondents believe SSO solutions support their organizations' efforts to demonstrate the "meaningful use" of EMR and related information
• On average, respondents said they have between 11-30 applications using single sign-on
• 80 percent of SSO users would recommend the technology to others.

"This survey validates what Imprivata Healthcare customers have known for years – single sign-on and authentication make it easy and secure for physicians to access EMR applications. The Ponemon Institutes findings directly correlate these benefits to a significant financial impact and cost savings" said Omar Hussain, president and chief executive officer at Imprivata.

More than 400 healthcare IT representatives and clinicians responded to the survey.