Hint Health 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Hint Health makes the software that direct primary care practices use to run memberships, billing and patient records (Hint Health). This guide is for the staff accounts that sign in to Hint, not for patients. Hint calls two-factor authentication "MFA", and it works with a one-time code from an authenticator app. Two things set Hint apart: an admin can make MFA mandatory for everyone in the practice, and you get just one recovery code, shown once. The steps below use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the Hint Health steps come from Hint's own support articles, linked below, including the screenshots in them, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Hint account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Is MFA required?

That depends on your practice. Hint lets an admin switch on a setting that makes every user in the Hint account set up MFA before they can get in (Hint Health). If your admin hasn't done that, MFA is optional and you can turn it on for yourself.

Hint's setup page tells you to download Google Authenticator, but the sign-in setup screen in Hint's own screenshot says Google Authenticator or another authenticator app will do. Novaz reads the same QR code.

Turn on MFA for yourself

Hint's article describes these steps (Hint Health):

1. Sign in to Hint.
2. Click the person icon in the lower left corner and choose Profile.
3. Open the Security tab and click Enable Now next to MFA.
4. The Multi-factor authentication (MFA) section shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If Hint is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into the box under the QR code.

If the code won't scan, the setup page has a Click here link for trouble scanning. Hint's article doesn't show what that link opens. If it gives you a text key, tap + in Novaz, then Enter key manually, and type it as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

Require MFA for every user (admins)

An admin has to turn on MFA for their own login before the practice-wide switch works (Hint Health):

1. Go to Admin > Account and click the Users tab.
2. In the Security section at the top, click the blue here link. It opens the same MFA setup page as above. Scan the QR code with Novaz and enter the 6-digit code.
3. Back on the Users page, turn on Require multi-factor authentication (MFA).

The next time each user signs in, Hint walks them through the same setup on the login page. The screen is titled Setup Authenticator: scan the QR code, type the six-digit code, then click Verify. Hint's screenshot of that screen also shows a checkbox, Don't ask again on this device for 14 days, so Hint can skip the code on a device you use regularly. The members list on the Users tab has an MFA column, so admins can see who has set it up.

Save your recovery code

Users who set up MFA from the login page get one recovery code right after their first 6-digit code. The MFA recovery code screen in Hint's screenshot says the code lets you turn off MFA if you lose your phone, and that Hint won't show it again. Copy it before you click Done (Hint Health).

Two catches:

• The admin who switched on the practice-wide requirement doesn't get a recovery code. Hint only hands one out during setup on the login page.
• Hint's article doesn't say whether turning on MFA from Profile gives you a code.

Novaz's keys stay on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, so the recovery code is your way back in if the phone is lost without one. Keep it in a password manager or on paper, away from your phone. More in 2FA backup codes.

If Hint rejects your code

Hint's articles don't cover rejected codes. Most of the time the iPhone's clock is off: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator

You have two documented ways back in:

• Your recovery code, if you saved it. Hint says it can turn off MFA, but its article doesn't say where on the sign-in page you enter it.
• Another admin. Hint says a recovery code isn't strictly needed, because another admin can reset your MFA (Hint Health). They go to Admin > Account, open the Users tab, click the blue Edit link next to your name, and click Reset MFA device (Hint Health). You then set MFA up again at your next sign-in.

If you're the only admin and have no recovery code, Hint's help center doesn't describe a route. Make sure at least two people in the practice have admin rights before you require MFA. See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Changing phones

Hint doesn't document a way to move MFA to a new phone yourself. The admin reset above is the route its articles describe, so ask an admin to click Reset MFA device once your new iPhone is ready, then scan the new QR code at sign-in. You can skip the reset if you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file: restore it on the new iPhone and the same codes keep working. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

Hint's articles don't explain how to turn MFA off for a single user, other than the admin reset.

Official Hint Health help

• Authentication Code and Enabling Two-Factor Authentication
• How to Reset MFA for a User
• Users and Security