Integration services to enable regional shared electronic health records

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Clinical Data Integration
• eHealth Systems

Background:

• eHealth aims to unify patient data, but Portugal faces challenges in electronic health record (EHR) data sharing.
• Existing systems often operate in silos, hindering comprehensive patient information access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a clinical information hub designed to aggregate multi-institution patient data.
• To bridge information silos and enable a coherent continuum of care through data integration.

Main Methods:

• Developed an integration platform featuring a coherent object model and services-oriented architecture.
• Instantiated the platform within the Rede Telemática de Saúde (RTSaude.org) for a regional EHR approach.
• Dynamically fed data from production systems across eight partner institutions.

Main Results:

• The RTSaude.org network provides access to over 11,000,000 care episodes for more than 350,000 citizens.
• The platform supports a trust framework and enables development of service-oriented applications.
• Obtained necessary clearance from the Portuguese data protection agency for data sharing.

Conclusions:

• The clinical information hub successfully aggregates multi-institution patient data, addressing Portugal's EHR sharing limitations.
• The implemented solution facilitates a regional EHR approach and enhances data accessibility while ensuring data protection.