Blockchain-Based Secure Data Sharing Framework For Healthcare Information Systems

In this paper, the role of participation within the domains of information system (IS) research and social development is analyzed. Specifically, we examine how the process of IS development, and the IS itself, can reflect and shape the status of social development. Traditionally, participatory design (PD) research in IS has focused on business contexts in the Western world, with minimal application to developing country settings, especially in the context of social development. This paper seeks to contribute to developing these understandings and bases its analysis on a case study of a community-based health IS in South Africa. The case study involved the design and development of a community-based child health IS in a rural area of South Africa. Nationally, the formal district health IS in South Africa includes data only on those people who access health services through the health facilities. The premise behind developing a community-based child health IS was to include all the people living in that district in the district health IS. Analysis of the case study reveals three ways in which traditional PD needs reconceptualization. First, it is not only the users of the IS who should participate, but also those individuals who are affected by the IS, even when those individuals have no direct interaction with the system itself. Second, whereas there is some recognition in PD literature of the need for the participation of people at different levels vertically distributed within an organization, there has been little recognition of the value of involving actors outside the organization or sector. Third, the capacity of the users and those impacted by the system needs to be developed to ensure effective participation in the IS design and development processes. These three approaches to PD in IS, whose purpose is to contribute to social development, are essential components of a participatory strategy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The perspectives of families, and especially parents of children with special health care needs, need to be better understood by the government agencies, health care providers, associations, and information systems vendors that are integrating child health information systems. To date, research on children with special health care needs has not included the perspectives of parents on integrated child health information systems. Interviews were conducted with a limited number of parents of children with special health care needs and a young adult with special health care needs about their perspectives on integrated health information systems needs. The interviews revealed common themes: (1) parents have experienced the benefits of information technology for health care purposes, (2) parents believe integrated health information systems could help to coordinate their children's health care, (3) parents believe information technology can help improve accuracy and timeliness of information, (4) parents of children with special health care needs believe their children's health information should be available to those who need it, but safeguards must be in place, (5) parents believe health information systems can improve health care, but it is not the highest priority health care issue for them, and (6) parents believe that their involvement in issues related to children with special health care needs, including information technology, is critical. Parents of children with special health care needs hold strong opinions about their children's health care, including health information systems. Parents need to be central to discussions about development of integrated child health information systems if we are to develop information systems that serve the needs of children with special health care needs and their families.

The rapid evolution of health information systems (Health IS) research has led to many significantcontributions. However, while the Health IS subset of information systems (IS) scholarship hasconsiderably grown over the past two decades, this growth hasled to questions regarding the currentintellectual structure of this area of inquiry. In an effort to more fully understand how Health ISresearchhas contributed to the IS discipline, and what this may mean for future Health IS researchin the IS domain, we conduct an in-depth evaluation of Health IS research published in mainstreamIS journals. We apply citation analysis, latent semantic analysis (LSA), and social network analysis(SNA) to ourdata setof Health IS articles in order to: (1) identify Health IS research themes andthematic shifts, (2)determine which Health IS research themes are cohesive (versus disparate), (3)identify which Health IS research themes are central (versus peripheral), (4) clarify networks ofresearchers (i.e., thought leaders) contributing to these research themes, and(5) provide insights intothe connection of Health ISresearchto its reference disciplines. Overall, we contribute a systematicdescription and explanation of the intellectual structure ofHealth ISresearchand highlight how theexisting intellectual structure of Health ISresearchprovides opportunities for future research.

Information management and the usability of health information systems (HIS) are important for the development of HIS in occupational health services. User participation in the HIS development process has been shown to contribute to the success of an HIS. The purpose of this study was to analyze how user participation in HIS development affected evaluation of the success of HIS. The success was assessed on the basis of the DeLone and McLean Information Systems (IS) Success Model. The study was conducted within occupational health services and the data (n=210) was analyzed with quantitative methods. The results showed that users participating in the HIS development process assessed the success of the HIS as better than those that had not taken part in the development. This difference could be seen in all seven dimensions of the DeLone and McLean IS success model but was statistically significant only for System Quality and Intention to Use. The results also showed that the users that had participated in the HIS development process also used the HIS more often and more extensively than those that had not participated in the development. The results indicate that user participation in the development process positively influences their assessment of the HIS and increases their active use of the IS. However, more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of using participatory design in HIS development.

The healthcare industry faces significant challenges in safeguarding data security and integrity, particularly with the rise of digital health systems and the sensitive nature of patient information. Blockchain technology offers a decentralized, immutable, and secure solution to address these issues, allowing healthcare organizations to protect and manage patient data effectively. This paper examines how blockchain can enhance data security and integrity within healthcare by examining its key features, such as immutability, transparency, and decentralized access, which collectively provide a robust framework for secure data management. The potential applications of blockchain in healthcare, including patient consent management, access control through smart contracts, and data-sharing solutions, are analyzed alongside challenges such as regulatory compliance, cost, and interoperability. By integrating blockchain, healthcare systems can achieve improved data security, fostering trust and resilience in patient data management. This paper concludes with case studies and discusses future trends in blockchain implementation within healthcare, underscoring its transformative potential for securing data while addressing privacy and ethical concerns. Keywords: Blockchain, healthcare, data security, data integrity, patient data management, smart contracts.

This paper advocates for the use of Action Research (AR) approaches in the designing of Information Systems (IS). Following a brief overview of the history of AR as a research methodology and it's use in IS research a framework for describing the AR process is developed. This framework is then used to describe the AR process involved in the design and development of a paper based and orally communicated child health IS. A common criticism of AR in IS design is the focus on the output of the design and the lack of rigour in the description of AR projects. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on the process of the design and development of the IS in the case study, but also contributes to AR by outlining a number of concerns which should be addressed by the IS researcher if AR is to viewed as rigourous. The concerns which need to be addressed are the need: to make explicit the epistemology of the researcher(s) or practitioner(s) in any AR project; to adopt a participatory AR and longitudinal approach to avoid the conflict of 'serving two masters'; to develop networks of action, and; to develop and disseminate generalisations and learnings from the research.

BackgroundAs the world approaches the final five years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global polycrisis threatens progress on health and well-being. Populations experiencing vulnerabilities, particularly women, girls, and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, shoulder a disproportionate burden. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services has seen mixed progress. In particular, adolescents are facing heightened risks such as early marriage, unintended pregnancies, and limited access to SRH services, compounded by gender norms and fragile contexts. Integrated, community-driven, and gender-transformative approaches are urgently needed, as are robust health data and information systems. However, fragmented systems suffer from poor data quality and underrepresentation of marginalized groups. Digital innovations hold promise for addressing these gaps but must be adapted to local contexts.Bridging the Know-Do GapThis supplement presents findings from the Cedar Cohort, an initiative supported by the International Development Research Centre across West Africa and the Middle East (2017–2023). The cohort's 16 implementation research projects explored SRH services for adolescents and health information systems, emphasizing gender equality, human rights, and knowledge translation.The articles are organized around three themes: (1) adopting contextual approaches rooted in local communities and their context-specific needs, (2) advancing gender equality and inclusion and (3) harnessing the transformational potential of data and information systems. Authored by LMIC-based researchers, the supplement provides concrete findings and localized insights into the transformative change possible when high-quality research is combined with an understanding of social, economic, political, and cultural factors at the individual, organizational, structural and systems levels.ConclusionThe collection of research projects featured in this supplement enriches our understanding of designing and implementing effective initiatives to improve health outcomes for women, children and adolescents. The findings emphasize that no singular solution exists for the multifaceted SRH challenges that continue to evolve. The projects in the Cedar Cohort offer critical insights into designing and scaling SRH interventions that are locally relevant, inclusive, and impactful. The current polycrisis necessitates a re-evaluation of global strategies, and the findings from the research projects in this supplement provide indications of ways forward.

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Security remains to be a critical issue in the safe operation of Information Systems (IS). Identifying the threats to IS may lead to an effective method for measuring security as the initial stage for risk management. Despite many attempts to classify threats to IS, new threats to Health Information Systems (HIS) remains a continual concern for system developers. The main aim of this paper is to present a research agenda of threats to HIS. A cohesive completeness study on the identification of possible threats on HIS was conducted. This study reveals more than 70 threats for HIS. They are classified into 30 common criteria. The abstraction was carried out using secondary data from various research databases. This work-in-progress study will proceed to the next stage of ranking the security threats for assessing risk in HIS. This classification of threats may provide some insights to both researchers and professionals, who are interested in conducting research in risk management of HIS security.

The development of healthcare systems in accordance to the “Shared Care” paradigm results in co-operative health information systems across the boundaries of organisational, technological, and policy domains. Increasingly, these distributed and heterogeneous systems are based on middleware approaches, such as CORBA. Regarding the sensitivity of personal and medical data, such open, distributed, and heterogeneous health information systems demand a high level of data protection and data security, both with respect to patient information and with respect to users. The security concepts and measures available and additionally needed in health information systems based on CORBA architecture are described in this paper. The proposed security solution is also open to other middleware approaches, such as DHE or HL7.

SummaryCloud Computing (CC) and big data are growing technology in the business. Big data is demonstrated in terms of volume, variety, and velocity. CC is employed for storing, processing, and accessing data. Many cryptographic techniques have been developed to enhance big data security in cloud computing. However, security and privacy are the primary concerns in protecting data, as it is highly sensitive. Yet, it faces the major problems of inefficient performance, increased time consumption, and lack of data confidentiality and integrity. To address this issue, proposed Extreme Learning with Projection Relational Algebraic Secured Data Transmission (ELPRA‐SDT) is introduced to secure data transactions from cloud users to cloud servers with enhanced data confidentiality and reduced time consumption for big cloud data. The proposed ELPRA‐SDT consists of two major processes namely registration and key generation. At first, the user's IP address is registered employing a transitive advanced set relation theory graph model in a cloud server (CS) for retrieving the numerous services. The CS generates private and public keys for each registered user's IP address using the Transitive Operational and Time Synchronized Random Winternitz Key generation model. After, the user sends a request to the CS for acquiring data. The CS validates the requested user based on security policy attributes. Second, the Projection Relational Algebraic Signcryption and Unsigncryption algorithm performs signature verification to ensure secure data access for protecting the data. Results of experiments carried out by using Coburg Intrusion Detection Data Sets‐001 dataset in Java. ELPRA‐SDT method is more efficient and more suitable for providing security and privacy to network traces in the Cloud. The result shows maximum performance with data confidentiality by 10% and data integrity by 13%. In addition, delay is reduced by 32%, and data delivery time and communication complexity is decreased by 28% and 24% to other existing methods.

This paper describes an empirical qualitative analysis of how knowledge and data generated through traditional health practices, specifically by traditional birth attendants, with respect to maternal and child health, define and control data quality in health information system. The aim is to gain an understanding of how knowledge and data crosses the boundary between traditional and modern sectors with varying practices, and how the existing mechanisms linking the two sectors can be strengthened. Using an interpretative approach, this research provides the health informatics and information systems community with an understanding of how bridging the divide between scientific and indigenious knowledge can improve data quality in a context where two different sectors exist; each utilising different types of knowledge. Concepts from community of practice theory were employed as the framework for analysis. We recommend that boundary crossing of knowledge and data between the two health sectors must be tailored from histrorical, cultural and modern perspectives, with an emphasis on: i) utilizing the historical‐cultural means of capturing data through chiefs and ii) the modern mechanisms of utilising health surveillance assistants as the link.

BackgroundThe Sars-CoV-2 pandemic exacerbates existing inequalities across health care systems globally, both within countries and between countries. It also highlights, like no other crisis before, existing weaknesses in health information systems (HIS). This article summarizes these key challenges for HIS in times of a pandemic and beyond, with a focus on European countries. It builds on the experiences of a large consortium representing HIS experts in key positions in national public health or similar institutes across Europe.MethodsData were collected in bi-weekly conference calls organized by the InfAct project between February and June 2020. Emerging themes were clustered and analysed around a WHO framework for health information systems (HIS). We analyse strengths of HIS at two levels: (i) dealing with health information directly, and (ii) dealing with other parts of information systems that allow for a holistic assessment of the pandemic (including health-related aspects).ResultsThe analysis highlights the need for capacity-building in HIS before a pandemic hits, the relevance of going beyond health information only related to health care but taking a broader perspective (e.g. on vulnerable groups), the need for strong reporting systems on staffing numbers and in primary care. Further, data linkage emerges as a crucial precondition to identify unmet needs for essential health care services in a timely manner. Finally, room for innovation and digitalisation is key to be able to react flexibly in times of crisis. Trust for health information stakeholders is another important factor to create strong HIS.ConclusionsThe strengths and shortcomings of European HIS that have been observed during the COVID-19 crisis highlight the need for strong HIS beyond the crisis. The experiences reported leave as a central message that successful reactions to the pandemic are (also) grounded in strong HIS that ultimately not only benefit the health of the population but also create a number of economic and psycho-social benefits. Strong data reporting schemes may also support fine-tuning of containment measures during a pandemic as well as transition phases.

IntroductionWHO’s reference classifications, ICD and ICF have traditionally served as standards for disease, health and disability related data. To meet the requirements of health (and disability) information systems in the 21st century WHO classifications need to represent the knowledge digitally in a coherent semantic structure. The knowledge representation in a classification requires that the information entities need to be identified with clear attributes and values and put into the context of an overall information model.AimsTo identify how we can possibly build mechanisms for meaningful data exchange in health information systems and discuss the prospects and implications for digital systems for public health.ResultsDigitalization of health and disability information system is an emerging need around the world. The transition from an analogue (and usually unsystematic information compilations) to digital health information system is a common observed trend which is expected to gain dominance in forthcoming decades. The information communication technology (ICT) developments have created multiple work streams to this field which are usually summarized as e-health. Further to the digital technology, the need to define and provide the content standards is a shared responsibility of the both content and technology stakeholders: one needs to define the content in a analogue form first, then convert into a digital application. Each health information rubric should be operationally defined and then be digitally represented in computerized information systems. To achieve this aim ontology as a computer science provides the scientific discipline and practical tools to define entities with their attributes and values. Creating the ontological basis for classifications will enable to represent the underpinning knowledge structure in an operational way; describe the logical rules as to how they relate to each other, identify measurable properties and provide a basis to share information both digitally and among humans irrespective of linguistic differences. In this way, health and disability information can be harmonized and aggregated at both individual and population levels.ConclusionsFormalized knowledge representation will allow for better construction of health and disability information, enable research and policy making by allowing meaningful exchange aggregation of data from multiple sources and enable science based decision-making.

Blockchain-based Order Management Process in Decentralized Production Networks: A Conceptual Framework