Yes. Dental practices should use multi-factor authentication (MFA) on systems that support it, especially email, Microsoft 365, remote access, administrative accounts, and applications containing sensitive information.
Passwords alone provide limited protection. If an employee's password is stolen through phishing, reused from another website, or otherwise compromised, MFA adds another barrier before an attacker can access the account.
For dental practices, a practical MFA strategy follows 4 steps: protect high-risk accounts, eliminate shared logins, secure remote access, and monitor authentication activity.
1. Protect High-Risk Accounts First
Start by enabling MFA on the accounts that could create the most damage if compromised.
Priorities should include:
- Microsoft 365
- Email accounts
- Administrator accounts
- Remote access
- Cloud applications
- Backup systems
- Financial systems
- Applications containing sensitive patient information, when supported
Email deserves particular attention because a compromised mailbox can potentially expose sensitive information and provide an attacker with a way to impersonate employees.
2. Give Every Employee a Unique Account
Avoid having multiple employees share the same username and password.
Each employee should have an individual account appropriate to their job responsibilities.
Unique accounts make it easier to:
- Control access
- Apply MFA
- Remove access when someone leaves
- Investigate suspicious activity
- Limit administrative privileges
For a dental practice with 10-40 employees, account management should be a defined process rather than something handled informally.
When an employee leaves, access should be removed promptly.
3. Require MFA for Remote Access
Remote access can be extremely useful for dentists, managers, vendors, and IT support.
It can also create cybersecurity risk if it isn't properly secured.
Remote access should generally include controls such as:
- MFA
- Unique user accounts
- Limited permissions
- Secure remote-access technology
- Logging and monitoring
- Removal of unnecessary accounts
A username and password alone should not be the primary protection for remote access to critical dental systems.
4. Monitor Authentication Activity
MFA is an important security layer, but it isn't a complete cybersecurity strategy.
Practices should also monitor for suspicious activity such as:
- Repeated failed login attempts
- Unexpected locations
- Unusual account activity
- New administrative accounts
- Suspicious password resets
Employees should also be trained to recognize unexpected MFA prompts.
If an employee receives an authentication request they didn't initiate, they should deny the request and report it rather than approving it to make the notification disappear.
Does MFA Make a Dental Practice HIPAA Compliant?
No.
MFA can support a dental practice's security efforts, but one cybersecurity control does not make an organization HIPAA compliant.
Dental practices should evaluate multiple administrative and technical safeguards, including:
- Access controls
- Risk analysis
- Account management
- Endpoint security
- Encryption
- Backups
- Security monitoring
- Employee training
- Incident response
MFA should be part of a broader cybersecurity and HIPAA-focused IT strategy.
What Systems Should Have MFA?
Use this simple priority framework:
Priority 1: Email and Microsoft 365
Priority 2: Administrator and privileged accounts
Priority 3: Remote access
Priority 4: Backup and security platforms
Priority 5: Other cloud applications containing sensitive business or patient information
The long-term goal should be to reduce the number of important systems that can be accessed with only a password.
What If Employees Don't Like MFA?
MFA adds an extra step, so some employees may initially see it as inconvenient.
But compare that inconvenience with the disruption caused by a compromised account.
A good implementation can reduce unnecessary friction by:
- Selecting appropriate authentication methods
- Configuring trusted devices where appropriate
- Training employees before rollout
- Providing clear instructions
- Establishing a process for lost or replaced phones
Security needs to be strong enough to protect the practice while remaining practical for employees.
The 5-Question Dental MFA Check
Ask your IT provider:
- Does every employee have a unique account?
- Is MFA enabled on Microsoft 365 and email?
- Is MFA required for remote access?
- Are administrator accounts separately protected?
- Do we monitor suspicious login activity?
If several answers are "no" or "we're not sure," your practice may have an avoidable security gap.
Why Dental Practices Choose IT Services of Utah
IT Services of Utah has been helping businesses for more than 30 years and supports dental practices throughout St. George and Washington County, Utah.
Our dental technology and IT experience includes:
- Dentrix
- Dexis
- Open Dental
- Eaglesoft
- Microsoft 365
- Servers and networks
- Backup and recovery
- Cybersecurity
- HIPAA-focused IT services
Our approach combines cybersecurity-first managed services, fast remote support, local on-site technicians, live phone answering, and an internal support team.
The goal is to protect the technology dental practices rely on without making everyday IT unnecessarily complicated.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is multi-factor authentication?
MFA requires more than one factor to authenticate a user. Instead of relying only on a password, the system requires an additional verification method.
Should every dental employee use MFA?
Employees should use MFA for systems that support it when appropriate, particularly email, cloud applications, remote access, and systems containing sensitive information.
Does MFA stop all cyberattacks?
No. MFA significantly strengthens account security, but dental practices still need endpoint protection, email security, backups, patching, monitoring, employee training, and other cybersecurity controls.
Is MFA required for Microsoft 365?
Regardless of a particular licensing or configuration requirement, enabling strong authentication for Microsoft 365 accounts is an important security measure because compromised email and cloud accounts can create significant risk.
Is Your Dental Practice Still Relying on Passwords Alone?
Passwords should not be the only barrier protecting your most important accounts.
Start with email, Microsoft 365, administrator accounts, remote access, and critical cloud systems, then expand MFA wherever it is appropriate and supported.
For dental practices in St. George and Washington County, Utah, IT Services of Utah can evaluate your current account security, MFA configuration, Microsoft 365 environment, remote access, and broader cybersecurity protections.
Schedule a Dental IT & Cybersecurity Assessment with IT Services of Utah to identify account-security gaps before a compromised password becomes a larger problem.
