The forecast for electronic health record access: Partly cloudy

The mounting pressure to enable widespread access to electronic health record systems is being felt by healthcare providers. The federal government's Meaningful Use incentives are reason alone for providers to address this significant usability issue. As the healthcare industry considers solutions, attention should be given to the Cloud and the considerable investment that has been made related to the establishment of digital identities and making them interoperable across heterogeneous systems. This research considered how the Cloud could be leveraged by healthcare providers to not only provide patients with a familiar way of accessing electronic resources but also creating a significant cost savings for providers. An examination was performed of similar work being done in other industries as well as the standards laid out by the federal government for EHRs and digital identities. This research lays out a comprehensive framework for healthcare providers to easily follow to integrate with the Cloud for identity validation, while meeting compliance guidelines for security and privacy. To demonstrate the viability of this research, a number of pilots and proof of concept projects have already been implemented at a large regional hospital and have produced immediate and tangible improvements.