VITAS Case Study

“Fischer Identity is priceless in the context of compliance audits. We need the intelligent identity management solutions that automatically respond to continuous change in our workflow to ensure that access is correct across critical systems.”

Director, Mobility & Process Automation at VITAS

The Overview

“Providing access for the right people at the right facilities at the right time is critical to fulfilling VITAS’ mission of care.”

This is how the director of Mobility & Process Automation at VITAS describes one of their many core technology services that facilitate the company’s mission and provide benefit to patients, families, employees, and shareholders – identity and access management (IAM).

VITAS views IAM as a pillar to providing value for all stakeholders. Faster access means faster care delivery to patients and families, and faster realization of financial benefits for shareholders. Correct access means improved security and compliance, increased protection of patient, financial and other sensitive information, and higher worker productivity.

VITAS needed a solution that could deliver these values, while absorbing the large volume of access changes that typify the hospice industry. Like most hospice providers, the VITAS workforce is substantially mobile. VITAS physicians, nurses, case workers and other mobile professionals require access to various information systems, patient records and facilities before care can be delivered. Additionally, the dynamic nature of the hospice industry necessitates frequent and unpredictable access changes from staff reassignment, transfer, separation, hire, re-hire, and other scenarios. Yet all access changes must be performed in a timely manner, within VITAS’ access governance framework and in compliance with applicable government and industry regulations.

The Opportunity

The Results

Consistent and Accurate User Entitlements
Automated Provisioning Reduced Risk & Cost
Maintain Service Levels During Peak Periods
Efficient and Effective Compliance & Audit
Improved Operational Efficiency
Reduced Risk

Critical Success Factors

“It’s important to judiciously introduce new technology and ensure that it behaves as expected. We didn’t take a ‘set it and forget it’ approach with the Fischer solution. We ‘set it and stared at it’ for months to validate solution integrity and derived value.”

Director, Mobility & Process Automation

The Benefit

VITAS invested in Fischer to harden user access controls and provide repeatable, automated processes to ensure transactional and access integrity related to user access control and identity administration. Core Fischer capabilities included policy-based entitlement management, automated provisioning, and compliance & audit reporting. The benefits VITAS derived from the Fischer solution include:

Consistent and Accurate User Entitlements

Policy-based access control provides VITAS with an automated solution for determining needed access changes based on each user’s attributes within the Source of Authority system. When applicable, approval processes are automatically initiated to obtain access approval from delegated authorities prior to fulfillment.

Reduced Risk & Cost via Automated Provisioning/ De-provisioning

Fischer automatically provisions/de-provisions access on target systems per VITAS access policies, mitigating the risk of inappropriate or unauthorized access, and reducing effort.

Maintain Service Levels During Peak Periods

VITAS can fulfill access changes automatically and without diverting resources from other projects.

“Fischer makes it very easy to take on an audit.”

Reduce the effort to comply with applicable sections of SOX, HIPAA and HITECH Act.
Demonstrate internal control efficacy to auditors: audit log of all identity events and drill-down capabilities enables auditor questions to be answered in minutes vs. hours or days.
Out-of-the-box compliance and audit reports minimize audit prep work.

Improved Operational Efficiency

Reduced Risk

Automated processes to manage risk exposure:

Phased Implementation Judiciously Introduces Change

VITAS knows that introducing any technology to a production environment has inherent risk of unintended results. VITAS implemented the solution in phases, validating expected behaviors and outcomes at each phase.

About VITAS Healthcare

VITAS Healthcare is the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care, employing over 11,000 professionals who provide care primarily in-home as well as in VITAS in-patient hospice units, hospitals, nursing homes, residential communities, and other care facilities. The VITAS name is derived from the Latin word for “lives” and symbolizes the VITAS mission: preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live.

Vitas Case Study