On Mar 24, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Albin Stigö <[email protected]> wrote:
> I always thought couchdb would be a really good fit for various > patient record systems. Especially in remote areas with spotty > connection, or perhaps no connection at all, as you could run a local > version, then physically move it and sync later. In general, yes. But in the US, HIPAA regulations seem to be pretty strict about the security of databases that store medical records, so one would need to ensure that the database is stored on an encrypted filesystem and the replication always runs over an SSL connection. (I remembered just in time to add “in the US”! :) I’m sure the EU has similar regulations.) (Disclaimer: I don’t know anything first-hand about HIPAA, but I’ve talked with several developers of medical apps, especially mobile apps, who’ve shared these kinds of concerns.) Another reason CouchDB is a good fit is that its ecosystem includes several mobile-ready implementations that can be used to sync records to/from phones and tablets. These include Couchbase Lite, PouchDB, and Cloudant’s mobile sync SDK. —Jens
