Emerging and Established Trends to Support Secure Health Information Exchange

E. Spanakis, S. Sfakianakis, S. Bonomi, C. Ciccotelli, S. Magalini, V. Sakkalis

This work aims to provide information, guidelines, established practices and standards, and an extensive evaluation on new and promising technologies for the implementation of a secure information sharing platform for health-related data. The work is strictly focused on the technical aspects (specifically on the sharing of health information) and on the study of innovative techniques for secure information sharing within the health-care domain. The use of blockchain methodologically is also considered for integration within the implementation of the PANACEA solution described within this paper.

To do so, health information sharing is analysed within the concept of the PANACEA project that facilitates the design, implementation, and deployment of a relevant platform. The research presented in this paper provides: evidence and argumentation toward advanced and novel implementation strategies for a state-of-the-art information sharing environment; a description of high-level requirements for the transfer of data between different health-care organizations or cross-border; technologies to support the secure interconnectivity and trust between information technology (IT) systems participating in a sharing-data “community”; standards, guidelines, and interoperability specifications for implementing a common understanding and integration in the sharing of clinical information; and the use of cloud computing and prospectively more advanced technologies such as blockchain. The technologies described and the possible implementation approaches are presented in the design of an innovative secure information sharing platform in the health-care domain.