Integration of Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS.b) with Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Healthcare information sharing and interoperability are vital for ensuring healthcare quality and safety, especially for patients receiving services from multiple providers. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) has developed the Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing-b (XDS.b) profile to facilitate seamless exchange of health documents. However, ensuring security, including data integrity, availability, and privacy, remains a significant challenge. Presently, no endorsed security implementations exist specifically for XDS.b. To address these cybersecurity concerns and enhance health information sharing, a novel method utilizing blockchain technology has been implemented demonstrated and freely available. This method guarantees the integrity and availability of health information, enabling decentralized document sharing while effectively addressing cybersecurity issues through the inherent security features of blockchain technology.