Healthcare data is becoming increasingly digitized today, and the need to share this data between patients, doctors, and healthcare providers is becoming more critical than ever. With the rise of mobile health apps, it’s now possible to share health data seamlessly and securely using peer-to-peer communication.
Basic Ideation
As an approach to digitizing healthcare, we suggest implementing a Peer-to-Peer Secure Health Data Transfer mobile app, Patient App (Android and iOS). This app may revolve around features such as:
- Login/signup as a patient along with social media authentication
- Update/Delete profile details
- In-App encryption of the personal and sensitive data
- Sharing the data via Bluetooth only with compatible and authorized devices
- Manual data entry and integration to fitness bands and apple smart watch for vital data collection.
Our proposed idea focuses on three primary modules:
- Personal/Sensitive Data Sharing and Storage
- Fitness and Health Data Synchronization
- Visualization
- Personal/Sensitive Data Sharing and Storage
Requirement:
This module will be responsible for personal/sensitive data governance policies. It will enable in-app data encryption and restricted sharing of personal/sensitive data through proper authentication mechanisms via Bluetooth.
Output/Acceptance Criteria Base:
Patients will be able to share their personal information with authorized doctors or service providers like lab technicians, sample collecting agents, etc., after proper consent via Bluetooth. The data won’t be accessible through any other application running on the device.
- Fitness and Health Data Synchronization
Requirement:
This module will collect health-related data from fitness bands automatically. It will also enable manual data entry by the patient or authorized service providers. The inputs for this module will include data protection policies that must align with the business functionality.
Output/Acceptance Criteria Base:
- Patients will be able to control how their data will be synchronized automatically through fitness bands
- Manual data entry will be possible by the patient himself or by authorized personnel
- Visualization
Requirement:
This module will be responsible for visualizing patient health data parameters. The health data parameters include BP, heart rate, O2 saturation, temperature, respiratory rate, height, weight, BMI, and blood glucose. Apart from that, the module will also enable an in-app document viewer and medication listing. The main aim is to make it responsive to all devices.
Output/Acceptance Criteria Base:
All parameters described above will be in a graphical format. The visualization dashboard should be responsive to all devices and easy for patients and healthcare providers.
Implementation of our idea
Though the problem at hand, i.e. building a Patient App, can be approached in a multitude of ways, in our case, we will use
- For building purposes:
- Libraries such as React Native to build the app’s front-end and Express.js for the backend
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Near-Field Communication (NFC) for peer-to-peer communication
- For the security of the data:
- Appropriate data governance policies and restricted sharing of personal/sensitive data through proper authentication mechanisms
- In-app data encryption libraries such as bcrypt or Argon2
- For the authentication process:
Social media authentication – allowing users to sign up and log in to the app using their existing social media accounts.
For this, we will create an account with the social media platform(s) we want to use for authentication (e.g., Facebook, Google, etc.). Next, we will use the social media platform’s SDK (Software Development Kit) to implement the login and signup features within the app. The SDK will handle the authentication process and provide us with the necessary information to create an account for the user within the app.
- For data synchronization with fitness bands or smartwatches:
APIs provided by fitness band manufacturers – aiding convenient synchronization.
- For data visualization:
A responsive and user-friendly interface for visualizing health data in a graphical format, rendering it easier for patients and healthcare providers to understand and use the information.
- For testing purposes:
- Tools like Jest, Enzyme, and Detox for React Native app testing and Mocha, Chai, and Supertest for server-side testing.
- Monitoring tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and Logstash to keep track of the app’s performance and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
- For inclusivity and user-friendliness:
Accessibility features such as high contrast mode, larger text, and voice commands for users with visual or motor impairments.
- For scalability and high availability:
Cloud services like AWS or GCP host the app and its associated services.
Lastly, we will use the CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) pipeline to automate the build, test, and deployment process, ensuring that the app is always up-to-date and free of bugs.
Overall, this Peer-to-Peer Secure Health Data Transfer mobile app will be a comprehensive solution for securely sharing and managing health data between patients, doctors, and healthcare providers. Its easy-to-use interface, data encryption, proper data governance policies, and responsive visualizations will make sharing and managing health data more convenient, secure, and accessible. Appropriate testing and monitoring will deliver a smooth user experience for the end-users.
Code Snippets:
To encrypt the password:
To compare the entered password with the hashed password:
To connect and communicate with a fitness band:
Checking of vulnerabilities
It’s essential to thoroughly test the app for security vulnerabilities and performance issues before deploying it to production.
- The use of encryption and other security measures should be thoroughly evaluated and implemented per industry standards and regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the US to protect patient data and ensure its confidentiality.
- It’s crucial to have a solid data governance plan in place to ensure that patient data is protected and handled according to industry best practices. This should include regular audits, security assessments, and penetration testing to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities or threats.
- The entire process of transferring and sharing information should be thoroughly implemented based on HL7 (Health Level 7) and Interoperability healthcare standards in the US.
- User training and support are also to be implemented to ensure that the app is easy to use and understand for both patients and healthcare providers. This can include in-app tutorials, user guides, and a dedicated support team to assist users with questions or issues.
Steps for future possibilities
As the app grows and more users come on board, it is crucial to consider the future scalability and maintainability of the app, meaning the infrastructure and codebase will need to be able to handle the increased load.
This includes load balancing, horizontal scaling, and implementing a microservices architecture to ensure that the app can manage many users and data. We will use version control systems like Git for code management to keep track of all the changes made to the codebase and roll back if necessary.
In addition, we will also need to implement a monitoring system that will keep track of the app’s performance, server uptime, and other vital metrics. This will help us to identify and troubleshoot any issues that may arise and make necessary changes in the app so that the app is always running in the best possible state.
Conclusion
It’s important to note that the approach mentioned above is just a sample implementation, and there are other ways to achieve the same functionality. Building this Peer-to-Peer Secure Health Data Transfer mobile app is a complex task that requires a deep understanding of the technologies and security measures involved. However, with the right approach, it can be a powerful tool for securely sharing and managing health data.
