Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are the backbone of modern healthcare, and Epic Systems is one of the most widely deployed EHR systems in the United States. Hospitals and health systems rely on Epic to manage patient records, lab results, scheduling, billing, and clinical workflows. Yet despite its capabilities, Epic — and other high-touch applications — often slow down care because of login friction. Clinicians spend valuable time on failed logins, password resets, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) prompts, rather than focusing on delivering patient care.

This blog explores why passwordless access is essential for Epic, how Twosense enables it, and the measurable impact it has on hospital security, efficiency, and patient care.

The High-Touch Nature of Epic

Epic is the center of clinical work and the center of login friction. It is one of the most “high-touch” applications that clinicians interact with constantly throughout the day. Throughout almost every department, clinicians share workstations, moving rapidly between patients and tasks, and every login delay compounds across the shift:

• Shared workstations require repeated logins throughout the day.
• MFA or password prompts interrupt urgent workflows.
• Failed login attempts force clinicians to call the helpdesk, adding operational delays.

These delays are more than inconvenient; they directly impact patient care. Studies and hospital reports show clinicians lose an average of 122 hours per year to login-related friction alone, time that could otherwise be spent delivering care.

Why Traditional Passwordless Solutions Fail for Epic

Most passwordless solutions marketed to hospitals were designed for enterprise desktops, not high-touch clinical environments with shared workstations. They fall into three categories:

1. Mobile MFA: Requires phones or app-based approval, but is impractical in ORs, clean rooms, or PPE-protected floors. Phones and cameras are often prohibited to protect privacy.
2. Hardware tokens: Reduce password entry but introduce operational drag, such as lost tokens, shared devices, IT overhead, replacement costs, and do nothing to prevent session hijacking.
3. Pass-Through Authentication (PTA): Introduces significant security risks, including storing unhashed passwords, exposing downstream applications to unauthorized access, and lacking real-time identity verification on shared workstations.

Real-world consequences for access with PTA or MFA-only approaches:

• Unauthorized users can inherit an abandoned logged-in session.
• Drive-by access occurs when unattended terminals in hallways or nurses’ stations remain active.
• Credential compromise is possible if passwords or tokens are stored or replayed.
• Regulatory compliance is at risk: auditing user activity is unreliable when sessions are implicitly trusted.

These are not theoretical risks; they happen daily on clinical floors.

Why Passwordless Access is Critical for Epic

Clinicians interact with Epic repeatedly throughout a single shift — charting, ordering meds, reviewing labs, or updating patient notes. Every login delay interrupts care. Even a 10–15-second delay per login multiplies across hundreds of daily interactions, resulting in hours of lost clinician time per year.

Passwordless access eliminates the friction of logging in without compromising security. For high-touch applications like Epic, this translates into:

• Faster access to patient data: Clinicians spend less time navigating login screens and more time with patients.
• Reduced workflow interruptions: No more repeated MFA prompts or forgotten passwords disrupting care.
• Improved compliance and security: Continuous authentication ensures only authorized users can access patient data, reducing post-login threats.

For hospitals, this is especially important because shared workstations and mobile-restricted environments make traditional MFA impractical. In ORs, clean rooms, or patient floors, clinicians can’t rely on phones or tokens — yet access to EHR systems like Epic must remain seamless and secure.

How Twosense Enables Passwordless Access

The platform works by generating continuous user trust across the endpoint session from session start to finish. The Twosense agent activates in the background and passively analyzes each user's unique behavioral biometrics, such as subtle patterns in their keystroke cadence, typing rhythm, and mouse movements. These behavioral characteristics are used to create a passive biometric authenticator for the user. This authenticator is unique to each user and runs invisibly in the background at all times. Because it is based on individual biometrics, it cannot be shared, stolen, or passed off to another user, making it inherently resistant to phishing and credential theft.

This behavioral "trust score" is then used as a powerful, live authentication factor, tied into authentication policy as a “something-you-are” factor for seamless multi-factor authentication (MFA). Throughout an employee's session, their real-time behavior is constantly authenticated against their established biometric profile. This guarantees the legitimate user remains present, thereby satisfying authentication requirements for accessing sensitive data or applications without interrupting the user with an MFA prompt.

See Twosense in Action

Here’s what a real passwordless workflow in Epic looks like with Twosense:

1. Clinician approaches a shared workstation and authenticates once using the approved entry method.
2. Twosense’s behavioral biometric agent activates invisibly in the background.
3. Clinicians access Epic and other applications without entering passwords or responding to MFA prompts.
4. Throughout the session, identity is continuously validated in real time.

In the video above, you will also notice a customizable post-authentication workflow being triggered.

Measurable Benefits of Going Passwordless in Hospitals

Hospitals that adopt Twosense passwordless report substantial improvements in both operational efficiency and clinician satisfaction:

• 1 million+ passwordless authentications
• 89% reduction in failed clinical logins
• 79% reduction in helpdesk tickets

Beyond efficiency, these benefits translate into lower clinician burnout, faster patient care, and reduced post-login risk exposure. Continuous Authentication also eliminates session hijacking, drive-by access, and other insider threats that traditional MFA cannot prevent once a user is authenticated.

Read the full case study here. 

Why Epic and Twosense Are a High-Impact Combination

Epic’s high-touch workflows amplify every second of login friction. In high-stakes care settings, each failed login represents time not spent with patients. Passwordless access powered by Continuous Authentication transforms this bottleneck into a seamless, secure workflow. Hospitals see measurable improvements in:

• Efficiency: Clinicians navigate Epic without interruption.
• Security: Sessions are protected even if credentials are compromised.
• Patient care: Time saved on logins is redirected to clinical activities.
• Clinician satisfaction: Less frustration and burnout improve staff retention.

For hospital CISOs and IT leadership, Twosense provides a way to reconcile the need for strict security with the operational realities of modern healthcare.

Conclusion

Passwordless access is no longer a convenience; it is a necessity for hospitals. Twosense’s Continuous Authentication and Continuous Access Evaluation platform removes login friction, secures every session, and returns time to care, all while maintaining compliance and protecting sensitive patient data.

Hospitals that adopt passwordless access for Epic are not only improving operational efficiency but also investing in clinician satisfaction, patient outcomes, and robust security.

For hospitals ready to eliminate login friction and reclaim hours of clinician time per year, passwordless access with Twosense is the next critical step in modernizing healthcare security.