title: Service for the Pseudonymization of Electronic Healthcare Records Based on ISO/EN 13606 for the Secondary Use of Information.
abstract: The availability of electronic health data favors scientific advance through the creation of repositories for secondary use. Data anonymization is a mandatory step to comply with current legislation. A service for the pseudonymization of electronic healthcare record (EHR) extracts aimed at facilitating the exchange of clinical information for secondary use in compliance with legislation on data protection is presented. According to ISO/TS 25237, pseudonymization is a particular type of anonymization. This tool performs the anonymizations by maintaining three quasi-identifiers (gender, date of birth, and place of residence) with a degree of specification selected by the user. The developed system is based on the ISO/EN 13606 norm using its characteristics specifically favorable for anonymization. The service is made up of two independent modules: the demographic server and the pseudonymizing module. The demographic server supports the permanent storage of the demographic entities and the management of the identifiers. The pseudonymizing module anonymizes the ISO/EN 13606 extracts. The pseudonymizing process consists of four phases: the storage of the demographic information included in the extract, the substitution of the identifiers, the elimination of the demographic information of the extract, and the elimination of key data in free-text fields. The described pseudonymizing system was used in three telemedicine research projects with satisfactory results. A problem was detected with the type of data in a demographic data field and a proposal for modification was prepared for the group in charge of the drawing up and revision of the ISO/EN 13606 norm.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Somolinos
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: M Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hernando
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cáceres
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez-de-Madariaga
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fragua
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Carlos H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Salvador
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality / Q000592:standards*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications