Privacy-preserving Statistical Query and Processing on Distributed OpenEHR Data

Reuse of data from EHRs is essential for many purposes. The objective of the study was to explore how distributed electronic health record (EHR) data can be reused for privacy-preserving statistical query and processing. Method: We have designed and created a proof of concept prototype solution based on the OpenEHR specification to ensure interoperability and to query the EHRs. XMPP was used for communication between the distributed processing components. Results: We have created a two-phased process where a distributed virtual dataset is first created and thereafter processed using distributed privacy-preserving statistical queries. Conclusion: Health authorities in Norway are currently defining the set of archetypes for the national interoperability program. This will create a common information schema enabling reuse of EHR data for statistical query and processing in a privacy-preserving manner. One benefit of the approach is that information transformation between information models for clinical use and statistical processing can be avoided.