Imprivata ID

Review by eFreeware

Anyone who has watched a clinician stop mid-task to hunt for a hardware token knows the friction that two-factor authentication can add to a busy shift. Signing off on a controlled substance prescription or logging into a hospital network from home should be quick, but the mechanics often get in the way. Imprivata ID, from Imprivata, Inc., is built to take that friction out of the process by turning an Android phone into the second factor.

The app sits in the Medical category and is free to download. It covers electronic prescribing of controlled substances, remote network access and other clinical workflows, and it has been on Google Play since May 2016. It carries a 3.0 average from 512 ratings across more than 500,000 installs, which tells me opinions among the people who use it are mixed rather than unanimous.

What interests me most is that this is not a standalone product. It is the mobile half of a larger authentication setup that a healthcare organization has to license, which shapes everything about who should consider it.

Built for clinicians inside a licensed organization

Imprivata ID is tied to a larger authentication setup, so the app works alongside an employer's underlying platform.

So the audience here is healthcare organizations and the providers who work inside them: physicians, nurses and other staff who prescribe controlled substances or need to reach internal systems from outside the building. If you work in that setting and your organization has adopted the platform, the app is the piece that runs on your phone. It suits clinicians inside a licensed healthcare organization rather than general-purpose use.

I would expect the appeal to be strongest where authentication happens many times a day and every extra step costs time. A prescribing workflow that runs through a token code on every order is exactly the sort of thing this is designed to replace.

Prescribing without typing a token code

For electronic prescribing of controlled substances, the app supports Hands Free Authentication. Rather than typing a code from a physical token, the system wirelessly pulls a one-time password from the Imprivata ID app on the provider's phone and verifies it. The developer says this works even when the phone is locked or sitting in a pocket, so the provider does not have to pull the device out at all.

The developer pitches this as delivering exceptional speed and convenience with minimal disruption to clinical workflows, and describes it as meeting the DEA's two-factor authentication requirements for EPCS. Those are marketing claims, and I would treat the specific wording as the company's own framing rather than a measured result. The mechanism targets the manual code entry step, the part most people find tedious.

A prescription sign-off can happen without pulling out the phone. Whether that plays out smoothly depends on the organization's setup, but the intent is clear.

Approving a remote login with a swipe

The second main use is remote network access. Instead of a token code, the provider gets a push notification on their phone asking them to confirm their identity. Swiping the lock screen notification and tapping Approve finishes the second factor.

I like the simplicity of this model for people who log in from home or another off-site location. The interaction is short, and it keeps the phone as the single device a clinician needs to carry.

The app also covers other clinical workflows beyond these two. What is clear is that the same phone-based second factor covers more than one task.

The phone as a key beside a Windows PC

There is a third piece worth separating out. A Bluetooth dongle on a Windows PC is reached through an Android Foreground Service. In that arrangement, the phone acts as a key: when it is close to the computer, it handles authentication for Windows applications.

This proximity-based approach is different from the push and hands-free flows. It is tied to a specific desktop setup with the dongle in place.

For organizations that have both shared workstations and remote access needs, the app addresses both. That consolidation is the appeal, and it is also why the licensing sits with the employer rather than the individual.

Free to install, but the platform is not

The app itself is free, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases. There is nothing to buy inside it and nothing to unlock.

The cost sits one level up, with the organization. Confirm ID licensing is required, and Hands Free Authentication is licensed separately. So while the download costs nothing, the platform behind it is licensed by the employer.

That split is worth keeping straight. A clinician installing the app on a personal phone is not taking on a subscription, and the organization handles the platform side. The recent update, for what it is worth, is described only as behind-the-scenes improvements, so there is nothing new to evaluate in this release.

How it compares with other ways to authenticate

Against a general-purpose authenticator app, the difference is the clinical focus. Imprivata ID is tied to prescribing and network access inside a licensed healthcare platform, and its hands-free and proximity features are specific to that environment.

Against a physical hardware token, the trade-off is convenience versus a standalone device. This app folds the second factor into hardware staff already carry. The developer's emphasis on not needing to retrieve the phone from a pocket is aimed squarely at that comparison.

Against building authentication in-house, the appeal is that the product is designed for controlled-substance prescribing. Organizations weighing options will care most about how the pieces fit their existing prescribing and remote-access systems.

It is also worth noting that the 3.0 average from 512 ratings suggests the experience has not satisfied everyone, though the app's usefulness depends heavily on how each organization deploys it.

A fit for licensed healthcare organizations

Imprivata ID does one job: it turns an Android phone into a second authentication factor for clinical work. It handles hands-free sign-off for controlled-substance prescribing, push-based approval for remote network access and proximity-based authentication at a Windows PC with a Bluetooth dongle. It is free, ad-free and purchase-free on the app side, with the real cost carried by the organization through Imprivata Confirm ID and, where used, a Hands Free Authentication license.

I would recommend it to clinicians whose employer has already licensed that platform and who want to stop typing token codes during prescribing or remote logins. For anyone outside that arrangement, the app is not aimed at them. If your organization runs the Confirm ID stack, this is the piece to install on your phone.

What's new in version 2026.2.0.145

We're always working to improve the Imprivata ID experience. This update introduces behind-the-scenes improvements.