The Future of Clinical Application Delivery Is a Browser on a Secure OS

Standardizing Browsers for clinical applications mean more flexibility and lower cost clinical workstations. Here we discuss what is possible now and what will change over the next twenty-four months.

Executive Summary

The ideal clinical desktop is moving toward a secure operating system with tap authentication to the EMR and other clinical applications through a secure browser. This model can simplify clinical workstations, improve security, increase flexibility, and reduce total cost. The transition will depend on progress in authentication, peripheral and device support, and third-party application integration.

What Is the Ideal Clinical Desktop for Healthcare Organizations?

Over the past year, I have asked many hospital and health system leaders: “What is your ideal clinical desktop?”

It’s a big question because the clinical desktop is complex, a point of integration for applications, peripherals, identity, and security, which are deeply tied to the operating system and frequently abstracted through application presentation and virtual desktop platforms. It’s a delicate orchestration of technologies and vendors to deliver a consistent and efficient clinical experience.

How Can the Browser-Based Clinical Application Delivery Simplifiy the Clinical Workstation

The most popular answer has been: “I want a secure operating system with tap authentication to the EMR and other clinical applications via a secure browser.” That’s a bold objective, one that would simplify the clinical workstation substantially, introduce more choice, and lower total cost while improving security in the process.

What Is Changing in Clinical Application Delivery?

All of the elements required to deliver browser-based clinical applications are in progress by major EMR and clinical application vendors and their ecosystem partners. Over the next two years, more clinical workflows will become fully functional without specific operating system dependencies. Epic recently provided compatibility guidance for chromium-based browsers. Much of Oracle Health supports browser access with known limitations for PowerChart integrations. Meditech Expanse is already browser-native by design. As the rest of the ecosystem evolves as described below, IGEL^® will deliver everything necessary for the browser-based clinical desktop.

Three Areas That Must Evolve for the Browser-Based Clinical Workstation

What needs to change? There are three major areas that are evolving to deliver the Browser-based Clinical Workstation: Authentication, peripherals and devices, and third-party application integration. Each will require enhancement to align to the browser as the point of application consumption.

Authentication has come to define critical aspects of clinical workflows. They are simple to use, but the underlying systems are not. They interact with card readers, identity providers, and applications using a variety of standards that have evolved over time. More complex workflows like Epic Fast User Switching rely on specific APIs in their native clients that do not yet exist in chromium-based browsers. Enabling these workflows in the browser will require tighter integration between identity platforms, local hardware, and browsers themselves. Imprivata and IGEL are working closely with health systems to deliver badge-tap Web SSO for the first phase of this transition.

Peripherals and Devices are required for many workflows: bar code scanners, credit card readers, printers, cameras, and dictation microphones have been dependent on Windows, allowing clinical applications to access them directly. Browsers do not yet provide equivalent access across all device types. Cameras, microphones, and printers are well supported today, but broader device integration remains incomplete.  Work is underway on standards that allow browser-based applications to recognize device context—such as selecting the appropriate printer based on location—but progress will depend heavily on peripheral vendors enabling browser-compatible interfaces.

Third-party Application Integration is a large category with a great deal of complexity. EMR clients have long supported direct integration with other applications such as Document Management, Signature Capture, Revenue Cycle Management, and Dictation. Each of these will need to support web APIs and/or FHIR standards to decouple from the underlying operating system and interoperate at the browser level. Some applications, such as Hyland OnBase, already have defined upgrade paths, while others are earlier in that process. Dictation is an example where a function can be shifted to mobile devices via native apps, and other solutions may follow similar paths driven by specific use cases.

How Will the Transition to Browser-Based Clinical Workstations Unfold?

Some use cases can be delivered today: if all you need is access to content in the EMR system, many of those workflows are already viable in a browser. Badge-tap authentication will be available in the months ahead with further workflow enhancements over the next eighteen months. Peripheral support will take time, particularly for device-heavy workflows, and will require pressure from health systems and coordination across vendors. Third-party applications are moving in this direction as well, driven by EMR roadmaps and growing demand for browser-based integration.

What Healthcare Leaders Should Expect Over the Next Twenty-Four Months

Clinical applications and the clinical workstation are evolving quickly. We have not seen this much change since the arrival of the EMR itself, and the next two years will be very exciting. At IGEL, we are partnering with hospitals, health systems, and the broader ecosystem to support this transition. There will be challenges along the way, but we will achieve a better clinical experience at a lower cost, which will benefit us all.

Discuss Secure and Resilient Clinical Workstations with IGEL

Reach out to IGEL to discuss secure and resilient clinical workstations.

IGEL is a proud sponsor of HIMSS Europe, in Copenhagen, visit us at booth number C3-209.

James Millington, VP Vertical Solutions will be presenting at the event 19 May, 11:30-12:30, Implementation Stage – The Next Wave of Cyber Threats: What Healthcare Needs to Prepare For.

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