IE (Ireland) Core Implementation Guide
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Security

Page standards status: Informative

Patient Privacy and Security

IE Core transactions often use patient-specific information, which could be exploited by malicious actors resulting in the exposure of patient data. For this reason, all IE Core transactions must be secured appropriately with access to limited authorized individuals, data protected in transit, and appropriate audit measures taken.

Implementers SHOULD be aware of these security considerations associated with FHIR transactions, particularly those related to:

For IE Core, security conformance requirements are as follows:

  • Systems SHALL reference a single time source to establish a common time base for security auditing and clinical data records among computing systems. The selected time service SHOULD be documented in the Business Associate Agreement when available.
  • Systems SHALL keep audit logs of the various transactions.
  • Systems SHALL use TLS version 1.2 or higher for all transmissions not taking place over a secure network connection. (Using TLS even within a secured network environment is still encouraged to provide defense in depth.) IE Federal systems SHOULD conform with FIPS PUB 140-2.
  • Systems SHALL conform to FHIR Communications Security requirements.
  • For Authentication and Authorization, Systems SHALL support any SMART App Launch version for client <-> server interactions. NOTE: The SMART App Launch specifications include the required OAuth 2.0 scopes for enabling security decisions.
  • Systems SHALL implement consent requirements per their state, local, and institutional policies. The Business Associate Agreements SHOULD document systems' mutual consent requirements.
  • Systems SHOULD provide Provenance statements using the IE Core Provenance Profile resource and associated requirements.
  • Systems MAY implement the FHIR Digital Signatures and provide feedback on its appropriateness for IE Core transactions.
  • Systems MAY protect the confidentiality of data at rest via encryption and associated access controls. The policies and methods used are outside the scope of this specification.

Clinical Safety

When implementing FHIR and IE Core, implementers need to be aware of the risks and tradeoffs and are encouraged to review the clinical safety section in the core specification.