A cross-platform model for secure Electronic Health Record communication.

During the past decade, there have been many regional, national and European projects focused on the development of platforms for secure access and sharing of distributed patient information. A platform is needed because present local or enterprise-wide information systems are typically not intended for cross-organisational secure access of patient data. Most of the present secure platforms are local or regional. Commonly used platform types in the health care environment vary from secure point-to-point communication systems to internet-based portals. This paper defines an enhanced cross-security platform which makes it possible for different kinds of local, regional, and national health information systems to communicate in a secure way. The proposed evolutionary way interconnects regional or national security domains with the help of a cross-platform zone. A more revolutionary model based on peer-to-peer Grid like networks and dynamic security credentials is also discussed. The proposed evolutionary model uses cross-domain security and interoperability services to ensure secure communication and interoperability between different security domains. The platform supports both communication defined beforehand and adhoc dynamic access to distributed electronic health records (EHRs). The internet is proposed as the "glue" between different regional or national security domains.