By: Sriram Kakarala
Last updated : July 31, 2026 8:46 am
Each device plays its part in a connected healthcare ecosystem, and across the industry, smart hospitals are now managing more than 7 million Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices
Technology has become an essential part of how healthcare professionals deliver timely, informed care. From patient monitoring to diagnosis and treatment, connected systems help medical teams access information, coordinate decisions, and improve everyday workflows.
Walk into a modern hospital room, and you can see this immediately. A nurse uses a mobile tablet to record patient vitals. A smart infusion pump delivers medication over the hospital Wi-Fi network. A doctor reviews an X-ray on an iPad. A handheld barcode scanner verifies patient identity before treatment. Each device plays its part in a connected healthcare ecosystem, and across the industry, smart hospitals are now managing more than 7 million Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices.
This growth has changed how hospitals operate. Devices that were once separate tools are now woven into clinical workflows, helping teams work faster, access information more easily, and give patients a better experience. As this ecosystem keeps expanding, managing it well becomes essential, not just for convenience, but for security, compliance, and keeping things running.
Healthcare environments never sit still. Devices move between rooms, departments, and care teams all day long. During a busy shift change, a tablet running an outdated operating system might stay logged in and unattended. A shared handheld device might get used to check personal email, and one click on the wrong link is all it takes. These are everyday moments, yet they are exactly why healthcare organizations need real visibility and control over every connected device.
For healthcare, cybersecurity is inseparable from patient care. Data breaches cost the industry an average of $7.42 million per incident. It also takes healthcare organizations longer than anyone else to catch a breach, an average of 279 days to identify and contain one, nearly five weeks longer than any other sector. Around 72% of breaches directly disrupt patient care, which is really the point: in healthcare, cybersecurity and patient safety are the same conversation.
For healthcare leaders, securing endpoints is no longer a side project. It is part of building a digital foundation that can actually be trusted.
Expanding security landscape of healthcare endpoints
For CISOs and IT security teams, this means managing a genuinely wide mix of devices across locations and workflows: Android tablets for clinical tasks, iOS devices carried by care teams, Windows workstations on wheels supporting patient rounds, and specialized IoMT hardware doing dedicated medical jobs. Every one of these devices needs consistent management, monitoring, and policy enforcement.
The challenge is not just the number of devices. It is what each one means to patient care. A scanner supports medication verification. A tablet gives access to patient records. A mobile workstation lets a doctor review information on the move. Every endpoint is doing real clinical work, which is why device management has to support security and usability at the same time. Clinicians need fast access to their tools, while IT needs control over configurations, applications, and permissions.
Physical movement adds another layer. Devices travel constantly across wards, so real time tracking matters. It lets IT teams see device status, monitor usage, and respond quickly when something turns up somewhere it should not be.
Then there is the third party question. Healthcare organizations work with technology vendors and service partners who connect into their systems, and more than 80% of breached patient data is stolen through third party vendor connections or endpoints sitting outside the main EHR system. This makes securing every endpoint, not just the ones inside the hospital's own walls, a core part of protecting patient information.
Role of intelligent device management
Done right, an endpoint strategy does not add complexity for healthcare teams. It creates a secure framework that lets technology keep supporting patient care without getting in the way.
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) give hospitals central visibility across their whole device ecosystem, letting IT teams manage policies, automate routine work, and stay in control of what is connected.
Zero Trust access plays a central role here. Instead of trusting a device simply because it belongs to the hospital, access gets verified based on the user, the device's health, and the conditions at that moment. Kiosk mode helps too. When a nurse unlocks a handheld tablet, it can open into a focused interface showing only the approved EHR software and clinical tools it needs, while app stores, open browsing, and file transfers stay locked down. Before anything touches electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI), the device runs through its own checks: encryption on, passcode active, identity confirmed through Multi Factor Authentication (MFA).
Keeping thousands of devices healthy also takes a proactive approach. Over the air (OTA) updates let IT teams roll out patches and improvements remotely, without pulling devices offline or relying on manual checks. Alongside that, device management platforms give visibility into battery condition, performance, and overall device health, so problems get caught before they affect care.
Picture a busy 3:00 AM shift: emergency cases coming in, monitoring continuing, teams across departments leaning on their devices to keep pace. In moments like that, devices need to simply work, reliably, and within the security standards healthcare demands. Good device management brings both sides together. Clinicians get the tools they need, while IT gets clear visibility into activity, compliance, and controls, with automated reporting ready for the next audit.
Securing every scanner, tablet, bedside kiosk, and connected medical device is really what builds operational resilience: protecting patient data, cutting the risk of information loss, and keeping the technology that powers daily care up and running.
Achieving safer digital healthcare ecosystem
As healthcare leans further into technology, and devices and users spread across more locations, the attack surface keeps growing with it. Getting ahead of that means a real device management strategy, a practical UEM or MDM solution backed by genuine security and compliance measures, not just policy on paper.
When executed properly, a UEM or MDM solution lets healthcare organizations automate the heavy lifting, gain real visibility, protect patient data, and keep the health community one step ahead of the threats trying to disrupt it.
About Author: Sriram Kakarala serves as the Chief Product Officer at Scalefusion, where he leverages over 20 years of experience in developing mobile applications to drive product innovation. He is a key architect behind Scalefusion’s suite of products, including Scalefusion UEM, OneI.
*The author’s views are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.