Securing interoperability between chip card based medical information systems and health networks

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Security
• Distributed Systems

Background:

• Distributed and interoperable health information systems are essential for shared care.
• Protecting sensitive patient data requires robust security services and access controls.
• Chip card based systems offer enhanced data security, user control, and mobility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a chip card based medical information system (CCMIS).
• To facilitate secure communication and cooperation among healthcare professionals for shared patient care.
• To address security needs for distributed health information systems, using diabetes care as a model.

Main Methods:

• Development of a chip card based medical information system (CCMIS) within the DIABCARD project.
• Integration of security services like strong authentication, authorization, and access control, in cooperation with the TrustHealth project.
• Implementation of secure handling of patient chip cards and secure communication between workstations and departmental systems.

Main Results:

• A functional CCMIS prototype was developed and evaluated, demonstrating feasibility.
• Enhanced security services specification for CCMIS was provided based on study outcomes.
• Secure communication channels and data handling protocols were successfully implemented.

Conclusions:

• Chip card based medical information systems can significantly improve shared care and data security.
• The DIABCARD solution provides a secure framework for distributed health information systems.
• Future work includes implementation in a health network and consideration of legal issues and emerging standards like XML.