Consumer-Centered Consent Automation in Health Information Exchange

Considering consumer preferences, this paper proposes computer-readable policy expressions to govern data sharing and use in consent-based health information exchange. Consent automation is an essential component of digital health transformation efforts, enabling better consumer choices in using their sensitive data while unlocking new values through policy-aware workflow expressions. The approach is based on the HL7 FHIR standard while using the obligation and responsibility concepts formally defined in the ISO ODP Enterprise Language (ODP-EL) standard. These concepts were expressed using a domain specific language (DSL) to support code generation for integration with digital health applications. The approach enables improved interoperability, considering consent, privacy, security requirements, and the ability to adopt new business, regulative or jurisdictional policies. Additionally, it accommodates generative AI solutions for faster alignment with existing document-based policies, ensuring clear provenance. Finally, consent automation and a broader policy framework in the context of the latest Australian Government initiatives in digital health are discussed.