A security architecture for query tools used to access large biomedical databases.

TLDR

Large biomedical databases are essential for research, yet patient‑specific data must be protected under HIPAA, whose restrictive regulations can render the data unusable for many purposes. We propose a model for obfuscating data served to client applications to make individual identification extremely unlikely. At Partners Healthcare Inc., with 1.4 million patients and 400 clinician users, we implemented this obfuscation model. Our results suggest that a web client can be generally available using this scheme, enabling broad use of patient data without privacy risk.

Abstract

Disseminating information from large biomedical databases can be crucial for research. Often this data will be patient-specific, and therefore require that the privacy of the patient be protected. In response to this requirement, HIPAA released regulations for the dissemination of patient data. In many cases, the regulations are so restrictive as to render data useless for many purposes. We propose in this paper a model for obfuscation of data when served to a client application, that will make it extremely unlikely that an individual will be identified. At Partners Healthcare Inc, with over 1.4 million patients and 400 research clinician users, we implemented this model. Based on the results, we believe that a web-client could be made generally available using the proposed data obfuscation scheme that could allow general usage of large biomedical databases of patient information without risk to patient privacy.