Security of ePrescriptions: Data in transit comparison using existing and mobile device services

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Title

ACSW '17: Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

School

School of Science

RAS ID

26546

Comments

Htat, K. K., Williams, P. A. H., & McCauley, V. (2017 January). Security of ePrescriptions: Data in transit comparison using existing and mobile device services [Paper presentation]. ACSW '17: Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference, New York, NY, United States. Available here

Abstract

The push for improved access to health information using digital health and electronic technologies has seen Australia at the forefront of developing foundational services such as medication management. The current national solution for the electronic transfer of prescriptions is based on a centralised exchange model which is an expensive solution over the long term. Further, it does not include access by the patient to their electronic prescription information. In an environment where it is increasingly beneficial for patient engagement in their own information and subsequent care, alternative and cheaper solutions should be considered. One such solution has been the focus of doctoral research into the transfer of electronic prescriptions using mobile phone technology. A constituent part of any such solution in the security of the data at rest and in transit. The potential candidate transfer mechanisms for the security of data in transit were investigated, including near field communication (NFC) and Bluetooth for Health. The issues in using NFC as a potential solution lie with platform related software development and its impact on seamless interoperability, making this a less reliable and less viable solution for electronic prescription transfer on mobile devices. The investigation of Bluetooth revealed that it is more amenable to multiple platforms and interoperability with significant support from both vendors and the software development community. The impact of these research findings lie in the proof of concept using mobile devices to improve the ability of the patient to be an active participant in their own healthcare and the important aspect of medication management.

DOI

10.1145/3014812.3014870

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