Towards Secure Interoperability of EHR among Healthcare Organizations in Palestine

Abstract

Technological development in the e-health field helps to facilitate and enhance healthcare, and improve treatment quality. Different public and private healthcare facilities in Palestine employ different health information systems; consequently, sharing health information has become more challenging and complex. In this paper, the researchers firstly investigate the current status of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in Palestine and the readiness of the various healthcare centers to foster the interoperability of EHRs. Secondly, the researchers propose a secure framework that might be used to deploy interoperability among healthcare centers. The mixed method approach was used to achieve the objectives of the research. Interviews were conducted with IT managers, and questionnaires were distributed to 331 out of 2350 personnel employed in five Palestinian hospitals. The findings of quantitative and qualitative studies show that there is no electronic exchange of EHRs between private and public healthcare facilities, and they highlight the necessity of putting interoperability into practice to enhance the quality of healthcare in Palestine and keep up with global advancements in health technology. Based on these findings, the researchers propose a technical framework for interoperability in Palestine using UXP/ X-Road, to securely and effectively share EHRs among healthcare centers