Access and Privacy Control for Healthcare Decision Support System: A Smart Medical Data Exchange Engine (SMDEE)

Abstract

Secure and automated sharing of medical information among different medical entities/stakeholders like patients, hospitals, doctors, law enforcement agencies, health insurance companies etc., in a standard format has always been a challenging problem. Current methods for ensuring compliance with medical privacy laws require specialists who are deeply familiar with these laws' complex requirements to verify the lawful exchange of medical information. This article introduces a Smart Medical Data Exchange Engine (SDEE) designed to automate the extracting of logical rules from medical privacy legislation using advanced techniques. These rules facilitate the secure extraction of information, safeguarding patient privacy and confidentiality. In addition, SMDEE can generate standardised clinical documents according to Health Level 7 (HL7) standards and also standardise the nomenclature of requested medical data, enabling accurate decision-making when accessing patient data. All access requests to patient information are processed through SMDEE to ensure authorised access. The proposed system's efficacy is evaluated using the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a fundamental privacy law in the United States. However, SMDEE's flexibility allows its application worldwide, accommodating various medical privacy laws. Beyond facilitating global information exchange, SMDEE aims to enhance international patients' timely and appropriate treatment.