System requirements for an electronic health record system using smartphones for homecare

In the Japanese healthcare system, demand for homecare for relatively severe diseases has recently been increasing. In providing such homecare, privacy must be maintained with high security because the service is carried out not in hospital but at home, which has insufficient security. It is important to share a common platform to integrate several service providers virtually because there are many types of service providers located in different places involved in the treatment of a single patient. We developed an electronic health record (EHR) system for homecare, which is based on cloud computing technology using smartphones. In this paper, we discuss the technical aspects of information security, which are required especially for homecare based on the results of a field survey. Our focus is on strict personal authentication with SIM cards to prevent the cybercrime of stealing ID in order to maintain strict privacy of patient medical information.