Method and a system of healthcare data handling

• US 9,881,128 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2009
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Koster, Robert Paul, Petkovic, Milan, Kunzi, Julien
• Primary Examiner(s): Khoshnoodi, Nadia
• Application Number:
  US12/993,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20110066846A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,168 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1075 Editing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of healthcare data handling by a trusted agent possessing or having an access to decryption keys for accessing healthcare data. A request is received from a requestor requesting accessing healthcare data. A log is generated containing data relating to the request or the requestor or both. Finally, the requestor is provided with an access to the healthcare data.

Claims

1. A method of healthcare data handling by a trusted agent possessing, or having an access to, decryption keys for accessing healthcare data, comprising:

receiving a request from a requestor requesting emergency access to a file of healthcare data that is in an encrypted form encrypted via an encrypted content key, wherein the request includes an emergency license embedded in the file,

generating a log, in response to the received request, wherein the log comprises data relating to the request or the requestor or both, and

providing the requestor with an access to the healthcare data, wherein providing the access includes decrypting, at the trusted agent, the received emergency license using a private key to recover the encrypted content key and constructing a new temporary license intended for being used only by the requestor, using a public key belonging to the requestor.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the received request comprises data tag signaling that the received request is an emergency request.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request received from the requestor includes requesting a decryption key for accessing the healthcare data, wherein the step of providing the requestor with an access to the healthcare data further comprises forwarding the requested decryption key to the requestor.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request received from the requestor contains said requested healthcare data in an encrypted form, wherein the step of providing the requestor with an access to the healthcare data further comprises forwarding the healthcare data in a decrypted form to the requestor.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein subsequent to the received request, obtaining the healthcare data in an encrypted form from a server and decrypting the healthcare data, wherein the step of providing the requestor with an access to the healthcare data further comprises forwarding the decrypted healthcare data to the requestor.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising submitting the log to a server for a review.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emergency license comprises a decryption key together with associated license rules for accessing the healthcare data, and where the requestor is a Digital Right Management (DRM) client application or an Enterprise Rights Management (ERM) client application, the step of providing the DRM or ERM client application with an access to the healthcare data being forwarding the license decryption key together with associated license rules to the DRM or ERM client application.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the healthcare data is protected with a document key, and where the emergency license further comprises the document key encrypted with a private emergency K_Em key, the private emergency K_Em key subsequently being distributed to all trusted agents.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the emergency license and the protected healthcare data are forwarded to the DRM or ERM, where upon occurrence of receiving an emergency request, the DRM or ERM are further provided with a public emergency key K_Em which is adapted to decrypt the document decryption key.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising decrypting the encrypted healthcare data to obtain a decrypted version of the healthcare data.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request is received by the trusted agent, and the trusted agent and the requestor are not part of a same entity.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with a computer program for instructing a processing unit to execute the method of healthcare data handling according to claim 1.

13. A trusted agent apparatus adapted to handle healthcare data where the trusted agent apparatus possesses, or has an access to, decryption keys for accessing healthcare data, comprising:

a receiver of the trusted agent apparatus for receiving a request from a requestor requesting emergency access to a file of healthcare data that is in an encrypted form encrypted via an encrypted content key, wherein the trusted agent apparatus is a separate entity from the requestor, wherein the request includes an emergency license embedded in the file,

a log generator for generating a log, in response to the received request, wherein the log comprises data relating to the request or the requestor or both, and

a processor for processing the received request, the processing resulting in providing the requestor with an access to the healthcare data, wherein providing the access includes decrypting, at the trusted agent apparatus, the received emergency license using a private key to recover the encrypted content key and constructing a new temporary license intended for being used only by the requestor, using a public key belonging to the requestor.

14. The trusted agent apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein a request for accessing healthcare data handled by the trusted agent apparatus is generated by a requestor apparatus that comprises a request generator, wherein the request generator is further adapted to generate a data tag signaling that the generated request is an emergency request.

15. The trusted agent apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the trusted agent apparatus sends a log to a server that comprises a receiver for receiving the log and a memory for storing the received log,

wherein the memory has further stored decryption keys for accessing healthcare data and one or more of healthcare data, or license decryption key having associated thereto license rules for accessing healthcare data, or a combination thereof, and

wherein the server is adapted to operate, provision and manage multiple of said trusted agent apparatuses, the operation including, in response to receiving said log from the trusted agent apparatuses, providing the trusted agent apparatuses with an access to the healthcare data by providing requested decryption keys.

16. The trusted agent apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the received emergency license further uses a private key to decrypt the encrypted healthcare data to obtain a decrypted version of the healthcare data.