System and Method of Securing Private Health Information

Abstract

A system and method for the secure processing of private health information. Fully homomorphically encrypted private health information, along with a request to process that information, is transmitted to a third party who performs operations on the encrypted private health information in accordance with the request, yielding an encrypted result. The encrypted result may be decrypted only by the party in possession of the corresponding private key. The invention enables encrypted private health information to be processed by third parties while preventing them from decrypting it.

Description

[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 248,051, filed Sep. 29, 2011.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates to the field of secure processing of private health information.[0004]2. Description of the Background Art[0005]Medical professionals and institutions often transmit patients' private health information over open networks to third party business associates, who process that information in order to provide a variety of services. These services include, among other things, claims processing or administration; data analysis, utilization review; quality assurance; benefit management; practice management; repricing; facilitation of health information exchange organizations and regional health information organizations; e-prescribing; providing personal health records; data aggregation; and performing accounting, billing, actuarial, and consulting services.[0006]Various rules and regulations require med...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a system and method that allows medical professionals to perform operations on encrypted private health information without revealing its contents or the unencrypted private key needed to decrypt it. This is done using a fully homomorphic encryption scheme, which ensures that any operation performed on the data is impossible to decrypt without the unencrypted key. The invention protects the privacy of patients while still allowing various medical professionals to access and provide valuable services to them without having to worry about the security policies of other parties. This system benefits covered entities, business associates, and patients by reducing exposure to liability and allowing more people to benefit from the value of private health information.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, even with these safeguards, the security of private health information transmitted to third parties is too often compromised.

Indeed, a recent survey demonstrated that 39% of security breaches are caused by third parties entrusted with sensitive data.

In addition to exposing covered entities and business associates to liability, these security breaches undermine important objectives of the health care system by discouraging patients from disclosing their private information to covered entities.

This is disadvantageous because covered entities often do not know the precise security policies and practices of business associates, or the identities and trustworthiness of the individuals responsible for administering the operations of the business associates.

Given the potentially severe penalties associated with security breaches, covered entities are often reluctant to share private health information with business associates, and may decide to forego the valuable services that certain business associates offer.

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