Amid increasingly digital and mobile healthcare delivery, the Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) announced a new exploratory initiative, including a public consultation, to develop a proposed national standard of Canada for patient-controlled, verifiable health records and healthcare encounter receipts.
In its news release, DGSI shared that the planned standard seeks to permit patients to have more control over their health records and to securely store and share verified health information via digital wallets under their control.
DGSI explained that the envisioned standard aims to enable healthcare providers and related organizations to issue digitally signed healthcare encounter records directly to patients. According to DGSI, the proposed standard will introduce or support:
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- requirements for issuing, holding, presenting, and verifying patient-controlled digital healthcare records as trusted and portable digital assets
- a consistent framework for patient-controlled health records that different providers, organizations, and jurisdictions can utilize
- a trusted system-to-patient-to-system model for exchanging health information
DGSI noted that the initiative will encompass areas such as digital trust, patient consent, privacy protection, identity assurance, verification, and auditability.
DGSI added that the intended standard seeks to align with existing electronic medical records, electronic health records, and healthcare interoperability frameworks.
Consultation
In its news release, DGSI noted that the 60-day consultation period will conclude on Aug. 29. DGSI urged stakeholders to review the planned exploratory work item and provide their submissions regarding the proposal’s feasibility.
Stakeholders include healthcare providers, digital health organizations, government agencies, privacy experts, patient and caregiver advocates, standards professionals, technology providers, and researchers.
DGSI also welcomed expressions of interest in engaging in the work to develop the standard in the event that the proposal receives approval for development.
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As an independent division of the Digital Governance Council, DGSI strives to develop digital technology governance standards in collaboration with the relevant experts, national and global partners, and members of the public.
According to DGSI, national standards aim to decrease risk among Canadians and Canadian organizations adopting and utilizing innovative digital technologies in the current digital economy.