A Framework for Multiple Authorization Types in a Healthcare Application System

In most of the current authorization frameworks in application systems, the authorization for a user operation is determined using a static database like ACL entries or system tables. These frameworks cannot provide the foundation for supporting multiple types of authorizations like Emergency Authorizations, Context-based Authorizations etc, which are required in many vertical market systems like healthcare application systems. In this paper we describe a dynamic authorization framework which supports multiple authorization types. We use the acronym DAFMAT (Dynamic Authorization Framework for Multiple Authorization Types) to refer to this framework. The DAFMAT framework uses a combination of Role-based Access Control (RBAC) and Dynamic Type Enforcement (DTE) augmented with a logic-driven authorization engine. The application of DAFMAT for evaluating and determining various types of authorization requests for the Admissions, Discharge and Transfer System (ADT) in a healthcare enterprise is described.