Developing a Transnational Health Record Framework with Level-Specific Interoperability Guidelines Based on a Related Literature Review

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 67
• Main Authors: Lee, Ah Ra, Kim, Il Kon, Lee, Eunjoo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.01.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Communication; electronic health record; health information exchange; health information system; Information sharing; Information systems; Interoperability; Keywords; Medical tourism; Patients; Personal health; personal health record; Semantics; Syntax; transnational health record; Transnationalism; health information exchange; interoperability; electronic health record; transnational health record; health information system; personal health record
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9010067
• ISSN: 2227-9032

With the advent of digital healthcare without borders, enormous amounts of health information are captured and computerized. As healthcare quality largely depends on the reliability of given health information, personal health records should be accessible according to patients' mobility, even as they travel or migrate to other countries. However, since all the health information is scattered in multiple places, it is an onerous task to carry it whenever people move to other countries. To effectively and efficiently utilize health information, interoperability, which is the ability of various healthcare information technologies to exchange, to interpret, and to use data, is needed. Hence, building a robust transnational health information infrastructure with clear interoperability guidelines considering heterogeneous aspects is necessary. For this purpose, this study proposes a Transnational Health Record framework, which enables access to personal health records anywhere. We review related literature and define level-specific interoperability guidelines, business processes, and requirements for the Transnational Health Record system framework.