Remote access to medical records via the Internet: feasibility, security and multilingual considerations

This paper investigates the use of Internet technology to provide secure multilingual access to the medical records of a cardiology clinic. Information extracted from the medical record archive is used to create mini-Webs of interlinked pages that may be viewed using a standard browser. The main features of the reported project are its multilingual nature-of particular significance in Europe, the provision of strict secure measures, and the support of usage profiles. Medical data may be viewed either in Greek-the language in which the data are stored-or in English, through an automated translation process. Security measures are as follows: (1) a password is required for access; (2) all transactions are logged (3) the patient´s name and medical data are never transmitted together; (4) mini-Webs are deleted when the transaction is complete, (5) the remote user never has direct access to the central database