April 7, 2025
To keep your health information safe, CHAS Health now offers multi-factor authentication (MFA) for signing in to the patient portal.
What is MFA?
- MFA is a security system that needs more than one way to check who you are. It usually involves something you know (like a password) and something you have (like a mobile phone).
Why do I need MFA?
- MFA adds an extra layer of security to protect your account, even if someone knows your password.
Do I Need to use MFA Every time?
No, but MFA will be required to reset your password and for login events where the risk level may be high. Here are some examples of why you need to reset your password.
Credential Theft:
- Attempt from the same city as a previous successful login.
- New device and IP address.
- Device Theft:
- Same device used.
- Different IP address or location from past logins.
- Impersonation:
- Login attempt from an anonymized IP address.
- Denial of Service Attack:
- Rapid successive login attempts
How to enable MFA
Patients can set up MFA by following these steps.
- Logging in directly to their athenahealth Profile.
- Navigate to My Profile > Security Settings and clicking the link to their athenahealth Profile.
- Click the toggle next to Require Multifactor Authentication to enable MFA for the account.
After turning on the MFA, it will require additional authentication for every login either a one-time passcode received via text message or a phone call.
Video Tutorial on How to Enable MFA
If you have any questions about MFA or need help changing your settings, please call us at 509.444.8200.
