Sweden and GTC build e-health framework

The Global Trust Council (GTC) is in negotiations with the Swedish government to create an internationally recognised e-health framework.

The non-profit, international organisation based in Sweden is in talks with the government on how organisations can reduce the risk of fraud through new methods of digital identity verification and how they can improve privacy and security issues to reduce data loss.

The organisation’s framework highlights the need to remove large, centralised databases and promotes the user as the only holder of the information.

The Global Trust Council has already been involved in Sweden’s National Patient Record pilot, where a summary of the patient’s medical record is accessed through a web interface and only authorised professionals can obtain relevant information using an ID card.

According to the Global Trust Council, the patient has to give the medical professional a USB stick or similar device in order to provide the professional with consent to access their information.

André Laperrière, director general of the Global Trust Council, told E-Health Europe: “Our protocols ensure the integrity of moving data from A to B. There is no need for hardware, software of millions of pounds to do this.

“The two and a half year pilot in Sweden that we have been part of has shown that our protocols work, medical records are transported in a way that is secure and they are encrypted.

“There is total transparency and confidentiality of the medical records, only people that you give permission to can access the records. There is no such thing as a file transfer; it is just a window to your file.”

If negotiations are successful, Sweden will accept the GTC’s framework and will become the host country of the organisation and one of the founding members.

Laperrière said: “People need to understand that there is no need to move files around that’s a very old fashioned idea. It’s about opening and closing windows.”

According to the GTC, the organisation is working with investment banks, clearing houses, telecoms companies and health services across the world to implement its policies.

He added: “We have some very significant announcements coming up. We are working with governments and businesses in the Americans and Caribbean and all over the world to promote our framework.”

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Global Trust Council