Privacy and security shield for health information systems (e-health)

The objective of this work is to present the architecture and design of a platform supporting secure access and controlled deployment of distributed medical applications. The platform once deployed provides for an environment and associated tools to be used by medical professionals in their interaction with patients. The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Architecture Blueprint as developed by Canada Health Infoway [CHI-EHR], which proposes Web service technology as an integration platform was adopted as a starting point in designing the architecture and functionality of this platform. The environment provided by this platform is Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) compliant, thus distributed ensuring a complete collaborative use medical personnel. The platform was designed taking into account that it will be used via data networks such as Ca*net 4, ORION, NETERAnet and NCIT*net. This intelligent platform enables the mining, retrieval, modification, management, and synchronization of various structured and unstructured repositories used by doctors in handling data in regards to patients and their illnesses. Last but not least, the platform implements a single point of authentication in providing examines security requirements associated roles and policies when web services are used in the context of e-Health applications.