A Novel Framework for Electronic Global Health Record Access

When most patients visit physicians in a clinic or a hospital, they are asked about their medical history and related medical tests’ results which might not exist or might simply have been lost over time. In emergency situations, many patients suffer or sadly die because of lack of pertinent medical information. Patient’s Health information (PHI) saved by Electronic Medical Record (EMR) could be accessible only by a hospital using their EMR system. Furthermore, Personal Health Record (PHR) information cannot be solely relied on since it is controlled solely by patients. This paper introduces a novel framework for accessing, sharing, and controlling the medical records for patients and their physicians globally, while patients’ PHI are securely stored and their privacy is taken into consideration. Based on the framework, a proof of concept prototype is implemented. Preliminary performance evaluation results indicate the validity and viability of the proposed framework.