Title: The NHS, Standards, Security
1The NHS, Standards, Security Identity Management
- Dr. Mark Ferrar
- Director of Infrastructure
- NHS Connecting for Health
- OASIS Adoption Forum 28 November 2006
2Agenda
- NHS
- NPfIT in context
- Standards (used by NPfIT)
- How do we use them?
- How important are they?
- Benefits drawbacks
- Security (of Information in NPfIT)
- Overview
- Standards
- Identity Management
- Standards
- Challenges
- Summary
3NHS NPfIT in context
Setting the context for the National Programme
for IT
4Strategic objectives
- To deliver a 21st century health service through
efficient use of technology to - Enable and improve Access and Choice
- Enable care pathways and patient focus
- Improve accuracy in treatment
- Create opportunities for improved efficiency
- Create opportunities for real NHS reform
5Wheres your medical record kept?
6Did someone take a back-up?
7Scope for NHS Connecting for Health
Secondary Uses Service
chooseandbook
Analysing National Health Trends
Patient Choice
- Largest civil IT project in the world
- 40,000 GPs
- 80,000 other doctors
- 350,000 nurses
- 300 hospitals
- 10 year programme
- 50m patients
- 1.344m healthcare workers
Electronic Prescriptions Service
North East
N3
East
West
London
Picture Archiving Communications Service
New National Network
South
NHSmail
Healthspace
Secure E-mail for all NHS workers
Web Access for Patients
National Local Care Record Services
8Architecture Overview
9Integration Overview
HL7 V3
ebXML / HL7 V3
10In a typical NHS week
- 6 million people visit their GP
- Over 800,000 outpatients are treated
- Over 10,000 babies are delivered by the NHS
- Over 50,000 emergency journeys in NHS ambulances
- District nurses make over 600,000 home visits
- Pharmacists dispense 8.5 million items
- NHS surgeons performing 1,200 hip operations,
3,000 heart operations and 1,050 kidney
operations - Labs and associated services provide millions of
tests results
In other words, 3 million critical transactions
each day!
11National Programmes deliver
- 15,642 bookings a day through Choose Book
- 1.7 million bookings made so far in total
- 7,605,966 prescriptions have been made
electronically through ETP - 354,488 prescription messages in the last week
- 16,053 (site) connections to the N3 network
- 98 of GPs connected
- 60 PACS installations from NHS CFH now live
- 90,261,214 images have been stored from over
4,583,163 patient studies - 797,987 messages a day over NHSmail from 213,485
users (inc. NHS CFH) - 296,526 Smart Cards issued and in use
- GP payments enabled by QMAS total over 1.7billion
12And while were talking about scale
- 600,000 PC and 850,000 computer users in the NHS
(in England) - NHSmail will have over 1.5 million users
- Worlds largest private, fully-featured, secure,
single-domain e-mail service - NHSmail Relay Service processes 4,000,000
messages/day and activity bursts of 100 messages
a second. - N3 network transacts almost 100 terabytes of data
each month - Thats equivalent to the entire 32 volume set of
the Encyclopaedia Britannica every 40 seconds - The processing power of the Spine and its test
environments would put it in the top 100
supercomputers ever built - And it has over 300 terabytes of storage -
equivalent to the contents of a book shelf 3000km
long
13For a typical week this results in
14Role Importance of Standards
The role and importance of Standards to the NPfIT
15Standards and the National Programme
- Standards adopted as a matter of
- Policy
- e-GIF
- NHS STEP STandards Enforcement in Procurement
- W3C/WAI
- NHS Information Standards Board (ISB)
- Preference
- Contractual preference to support commercial
flexibility - Need
- Practical need in order to support
inter-operability
16ISB definition of an Information Standard
"NHS Information Standards are information and
communication technologies1, which achieve
interoperability between independent computer
systems functional interoperability and between
independent users of data particularly patients,
clinicians and managers semantic
interoperability when using computer systems as
part of NHS commissioned and provided
care." Focus on safety, fitness for purpose,
interoperability and implementation, ensuring
both a specification and implementation guidance
exist, meaning implementation is required before
a standard is adopted or approved. 1
"Health Technology is an internationally
recognised term covering any method used by those
working in health services to promote health,
prevent and treat disease and improve
rehabilitation and long-term care. "Technologies"
in this context are not confined to new drugs or
pieces of sophisticated equipment."
(http//www.hta.nhsweb.nhs.uk/FAQ/).
17Examples of ISB Information Standards
- Some examples of NHS Information Standards
include - Data standards such as datasets for national
audits, statistics or commissioning - Message standards such as messages communicating
patient allergy information between a GP system
and the national spine - Record content standards such as the ambulance
service patient report form - Interface standards such as how date and time are
displayed on the computer screen - Health related classifications and terminologies
such as ICD-10 and SNOMED CT - Technical standards that facilitate communication
and between systems and ensure effective
operating, for example, network standards - Information governance standards technical and
behavioural standards that support safe, secure
and confidential management of information.
18Types Stages of Standard
- Types
- Process manages each of three types with
appropriate degrees of rigour. - An Operational standard is a detailed and
precisely defined standard for operational use
within a specific area of the NHS. The bulk of
the standards considered by ISB are operational
standards - A Fundamental standard is one which encompasses
many distinct areas and will have multiple
instantiations of operational standards - A Framework standard is an 'overarching'
structure which can be employed to develop
Operational and / or Fundamental standards - Stages
- Three sequential stages, each ensuring that
developer and sponsor provide evidence through
testing that standard is needed, fit for purpose,
can be implemented and integrated. - At Requirement standard stage, ISB assures a
defined need within the NHS and that development
and implementation plan is funded - At Draft standard stage, ISB assures early
evidence of benefits delivery described in the
'Requirement' through testing - At Full standard stage, ISB assures evidence of
ability to be implemented, interoperability and
safety and is supported by a maintenance and
update process
19External Interface Specification (EIS)
- Within the National Programme, interoperability
and integration is specified in the EIS, which
describes interfaces for the following national
services - Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP)
- eBooking Service (EBS)
- GP to GP (GP2GP) - EHR transfer service
- Gazetteer Service
- Spine Directory Service (SDS)
- Spine Security Broker (SSB)
- Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
- Legitimate Relationship Service (LRS)
- Personal Spine Information Services (PSIS)
- Also provides protocol and message format
standard for the exchange of HL7/XML messages
between a service client and a national service.
20EIS references various standards
- Adopts standards from various consortia as
defined in their respective formal definitions. - Implementers should1 always refer to the
standards for detailed guidance. - Where conflicts exist between specification and
standard, the standard takes precedence. - The following key standards have been adopted
- HL7 Version 3.
- XML family of standards, W3C.
- OASIS ebXML Message Services Specification.
- OASIS ebXML Collaboration-Protocol Profile and
Agreement Specification. - SOAP, W3C Recommendation.
- HTTP, IETF RFC.
- XML-Signature, W3C Recommendation.
- LDAP, IETF RFC.
- Assertions and Protocol for OASIS Security
Assertions Markup Language (SAML v1.1).
21EIS relates to NASP LSP services
- EIS describes external interfaces from a
technical perspective. - Targeted at architects, designers and builders
responsible for delivery of Local Service
Provider (LSP) systems, national service systems
and the ICRS Spine. - Assumes familiarity with
- HL7
- XML
- ebXML
- XML Security
- SOAP
- HTTP
- LDAP
- Single Sign-on (SSO)
- SAML
- UML
22EIS References
Ref. Version or Doc. No. Description
Ballot6 Ballot6 HL7 Version 3 Messaging Standard, Ballot6, December 2003.
BT-Mbeh 5 Draft B 2086 Message Handling Service Behavioural Patterns, Document Number, Issue 5, 18th January 2006.
BT-CP 2.1 Draft A 2088 Release ebXML Contract Properties, Issue 2.1 Draft A, 24th August 2006.
ebXML-BPSS 1.01 OASIS ebXML Business Process Specification Schema, Version 1.01, 11 May 2001.
ebXML-MS 2.0 OASIS ebXML Message Services Specification, Version 2.0, 1 April 2002.
ebXML-CPA 2.0 OASIS ebXML Collaboration-Protocol Profile and Agreement Specification, Version 2.0, 23rd September, 2002
EIS5.5 5.5 External Interface Specification, CDT D 0002, Issue 5.5, 22nd February 2006.
EIS6.4 6.4 External Interface Specification, CDT D 0002, Issue 6.4, 28th October 2005.
ESR 0.2 Microsoft Excel Worksheet ESR Staff Group, Sub-group and Job Role Codes DRAFT 0.2
ETP-SS 1.0 ETP Supplementary Specification ETP v2 Implementation Strategy, Issue 1.0, Document Number 2052
HL7-ebXML 1 Transport SpecificationebXML, Release 1, Draft Standard for Trial Use, Candidate 1, 24th November 2003.
HL7-WS 1.0 Web ServicesSOAP/WSDL Profile 1.0, 30th November 2003.
HL7-WSA 0.96 Web Services Address Profile, Ruggeri, Cabrera, Regio.
HTTP 1.1 RFC 2616 HTTP, Version 1.1
LDAP-1823 The LDAP Application Program Interface
LDAP-2251 RFC 2251 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3)
LDAP-2252 RFC 2252 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3) Attribute Syntax Definitions
LDAP-2253 RFC 2253 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3) UTF-8 String Representation of Distinguished Names
LDAP-2254 RFC 2254 The String Representation of LDAP Search Filters
LDAP-2255 RFC 2255 The LDAP URL Format
NASP-XML 5 Draft F NASPXMLPackage, Version 5F 2006-08-24
MIM4.1.04 4.1.04 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 4.1.04, Issue date 16/08/2006
MIM4.1.02 4.1.02 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 4.1.02, Issue date 05/05/2006
MIM3.1.11 3.1.11 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 3.1.11, Issue date 04-08-2005
MIM3.1.10 3.1.10 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 3.1.10, Issue date 30-03-2005
MIM3.1.09 3.1.09 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 3.1.09, Issue date 14-01-2005
MIM3.1.07 3.1.07 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 3.1.07, Issue date 29-10-2004
MIM2.3 2.3 NPfIT Message Implementation Manual, Version 2.3
RBAC 6.0 Information Governance Programme Role-Base Access Control Requirements (RBAC) (NPFIT NDA GEN IG0252) v6.0. 17th Feb
RFC-2119 Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels
SOAP 1.1 SOAP, Version 1.1, W3C Note, 8th May 2000
SOAP-Att SOAP Messages with Attachments, 11th November 2000.
SSB SAML IG D0014 Spine Security Broker SAML Assertion Structure
WS-A 1.0 Web Services AddressingCore, W3C Working Draft, 15th February 2005, Issue 1.0 Web Services AddressingSOAP Binding, W3C Working Draft, 15th February 2005, Issue 1.0
WSI 1.0a Basic Profile 1.0aFinal Specification, Web Service Interoperability Organisation, 8th August 2003
WSI-ATT 1.0 Attachments Profile 1.0, Web Service Interoperability Organisation, 24th August 2004.
XLINK XML Linking Recommendation, W3C Recommendation, 27th June 2001.
XMLdsig XML-Signature Syntax and Processing W3C Recommendation 12 February 2000
XMLSchema XML Schema Part 1 Structures, W3C Recommendation, 2nd May 2001 XML Schema Part 2 Datatypes, W3C Recommendation, 2nd May 2001
23Other standards adopted by NPfIT
- NPfIT also relies on various other international
standards not described by (or relevant to) the
EIS, but just as important - Medical Terminology
- SNOMED-CT
- Various other infrastructure standards (not
already mentioned) - TCP/IP v4
- DNS
- TLS / SSL
- X.509
- IEEE 802.3
- IEEE 802.11
- 3DES
- AES
- RC4
- IMAP
- Etc
- In fact, standards of one sort or another pervade
most elements of the programme.
24Standards were developing ourselves
- HL7 NHS Extensions
- Being adopted into mainstream HL7
- Common User Interface (CUI)
- Design Guide for components of the clinical UI
- Licensed for use outside the NHS
- Collaborative development via Participation
Agreement - Focus on Patient Safety Clinical Efficiency
- Independent of application development
environment or language - Some taken through the NHS ISB processes
- Toolkit
- Implementation of DG in Microsoft .NET v2
- (Desktop Infrastructure)
- (Office)
25Benefits Drawbacks of Standards
Benefits and drawbacks to using standards
26Benefits
- Interoperability
- End to end service delivered using different
brands and products - Service delivered using different versions of
same products in different parts of the
organisation - Service interoperates with other organisations
services (that use same or compatible standards
or interfaces) - Longevity
- Protection against innovation obsolescence when
combined with SOA - Commercial firms innovate to improve product
(fix bugs, enhance performance) AND generate
steady revenues (make users upgrade) - A long term (10 year) programme must manage
product innovation alongside long term sustained
service delivery and stability. - Flexibility
- Add or delete a product from the service mix
- Add or delete a service
- Avoiding vendor lock-in
- Avoid Service Provider lock-in
- Extend organisation or enterprise (integrate 3rd
party business services)
27Benefits
Thanks to Patrick Gannon for the following
reference US DoD Open Technology Development, A
Roadmap Plan, April 2006 As software becomes
increasingly networked, design and engineering
methodologies have evolved towards services-based
architectures that communicate through open and
standardized interfaces. Often, these services
and interfaces are provided with OSS reference
implementations. Once this type of open, service
based architecture is implemented, the system
naturally decomposes into a modular design ? each
service is free to improve and evolve
independently as long as it communicates through
the standard interfaces. http//www.acq.osd.mil/
asc/ But this should apply equally to
proprietary systems built to comply with open
standard interfaces each service is free to
improve and evolve independently so long as the
interface standard remains stable and is adhered
to.
28Drawbacks
- Implementation variation
- Proprietary implementations of the standard may
fail to interoperate - Heavily customised implementations of complex
applications built on equally complex standards
become bespoke (almost proprietary) solutions - E.g. Java engine variations
- E.g. smart card standards
- Implementation quality
- E.g. Bluetooth used in Assistive Technology /
Telecare / Telemedicine - Performance disadvantage against tuned
proprietary solutions - E.g. IMAP clients versus proprietary e-mail
client / server protocols - Obsolescence when the standard changes
- E.g. SAML v1.1 versus SAML v2.0
- Competing Standards
- Thats the thing about standards, there are
always so many to choose from - E.g. ebXML business process and modelling
standards overlap with HL7 standards specific to
healthcare which should the NHS choose to
implement?
29Security Architecture of NPfIT
Security Architecture of the National Programme
30Key security challenges
- How do you ensure only those who need access gain
access to any one of 50 million patient records? - How do you provide single sign-on with gt10
service providers, gt50 applications and 12,000
separate NOS installations? - How do you provide e-GIF Level 3 2-factor
authentication with 30 of your users outside
your organisation and network?
31From patient and clinician perspectives
I need secure access to clinical systems and
patient information
How can I be sure that people who do have a need
to access my medical record only get access to
what they need?
Whos been accessing my record?
I need a single way of proving my identity to all
systems that I use
Can I be sure people who have no need to see my
medical record will not be able to see it?
32Our Data Protection Act obligations
- DPA defines much of the data held on NCRS systems
as sensitive personal data - We have a duty of care to protect data
appropriately - Government guidelines say the release of
personally sensitive data to third parties
requires Registration at Level 3, via which the
registrants real world identity is verified
beyond reasonable doubt - Guidelines also say Registration at Level 3
should be combined with Authentication at the
same level
33NCRS security components overview
Security Architecture Confidentiality Architecture
Role Based Access Control Patient Consent
Registration and Authentication LegitimateRelationships
Sealed Envelopes Sealed Envelopes
Clinician Patient
34Role Based Access Control
Can I be sure that people who do have a need to
access my medical records only get access to what
they need?
35Why Role Based Access Control?
- Well understood approach with proven success in
large business systems - The NHS is a business with complex role-to-task
and task-to-business process mapping - Most existing health applications incorporate
some form of Role Based Access Control
36Roles Based Access Control model
CFH Applications
Healthcare Professional
Activity/ Business Function(s)
Organisation(s)
Job Role(s)
National Care Records Service (NCRS)
Choose and Book (CAB)
Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP)
Secondary Uses Service (SUS)
Etc.
Etc.
37However, RBAC alone is not enough
- The functions people perform can cross job
boundaries - Some functions are available only to certain
users in a particular job - Some functions are not related to a users day
job at all - Different NHS organisations have different ideas
about what someone in a particular role can do
38Enhancements to RBAC are needed
- Transparent to the choice of service provider
supporting the real world things people do. - Uses the role concept for the majority of rights
a user has, so that Registration Authorities are
not faced with the individual nomination of every
separate detailed access right. - Provides the flexibility needed to support policy
change. - Permits policy variation across the NHS,
controlled in a manner that preserves a common
understanding of Job Roles and the rights they
carry.
39Legitimate Relationships
Can I be sure that people who have no need to
see my medical record will not be able to see it?
40What is a Legitimate Relationship?
- The Legitimate Relationship Service (LRS) enables
systems to verify a permitted relationship exists
between the system user and the patient before
allowing access to requested data - A user cannot access a patient's clinical record
without a Legitimate Relationship (LR) - Many different types of LR, but almost all are
invisible to the user and are triggered by
patient-related events - Legitimate Relationships have lifecycles (they
can expire) - Creating Workgroups and assigning users to them
is a vital function for NHS organisations and to
the LRS
41LR Workgroups how they work
Patient has LR with the Workgroup, e.g. all GPs
in a given Surgery established when a patient
registers with a GP
Clinician (User) is member of the Workgroup
WG
Clinician (User) permitted access to patient
record as valid LR exists via the Workgroup to
patient
Additionally, there can be direct LRs between
individual User Role Profiles (clinicians) and
Patients these are Self-claimed and
Colleague-granted LRs e.g. in AE.
42Sealed Envelopes
Can I be sure that people who see my record will
not be able to see particularly sensitive medical
details which I want to keep secret only to
myself and any specialists treating me?
43What is a Sealed Envelope?
- Patients will be able to select parts of their
record to which they wish access to be restricted - They can require that only nominated people can
see these parts - This can be overridden (with an alert) if the
patients life is in danger and the patient
cannot be asked - Clinicians will also be able to seal off parts of
the record from the patient (e.g. where knowledge
by the patient may lead them to harm themselves
or others).
44Authentication
How do I know who has access to my medical
records?
45NHS Smartcards
- A secure Chip and Pin card to hold a users
unique identity (digital certificates) - Supports 2 factor authentication required by
e-GIF Level 3 - Something you have (the Smartcard)
- Something you know (the Passcode)
- Passcode only stored on the card
- Certificate is validated to ensure currency as
the user authenticates - Any magnetic strip on the card is not used for
authentication or to hold digital signatures - Future support for biometrics and proximity
463-step registration process
Sponsor
User
CA Agent
- 3 - Smartcard issue from Card Management System
(CMS) - Import person from SUD
- Take clear image of applicant with Webcam
- Print and issue the card
- Test the card
- 1 - Validation of application to register
- Complete an application form (RA01)
- Have identity vouched for by sponsor or present
suitable documentary evidence of identity - Obtain sponsorship for appropriate job profile
- 2 - Registration into the Spine User Directory
(SUD), a sub-component of the Spine Directory
Service (SDS) - Search for user and ensure no duplicates created
- Create a basic user profile
- Associate with organisation(s)
- Assign correct role(s)
47The user login experience
Insert SmartCard into Card Reader
Authentication Confirmed
Set Session Role
Start Relevant User Application
Enter Passcode
48Logon behind the scenes
- User inserts smart card or attempts access to a
protected resource. - Identity Agent (IA) prompts User for (smart card
and) Passcode. - Spine Security Broker (SSB) Service validates
credentials and, if successful, establishes a
Session. - SSB creates Single Sign-On (SSO) Token that
includes - Unique User ID (UID)
- Token ID
- Session attributes, e.g. max_idle_time
- Also creates Attribute Assertion including
- Name, UID, OCS Code, Default Role, Job Role(s),
Organisation(s), Business Function(s), Area of
work(s), Workgroup(s) - SSB also establishes a Token
- ID passed to IA, stored in memory on Users PC
and points to SSO Token held in ID Server. - User starts application.
- Application obtains Token ID from IA
- Application checks validity of token with ID
Server. - Applications can also retrieve session
information using the Token ID to get SSO Token
values. - Application Access control Decision Function
(ADF) gets/parses SAML Assertion for attributes - Application ADF processes User requests in its
own context based on user information in SSO
Token and Assertion.
49Logging auditing
- Access to records actions performed are logged
against an individuals identity (via their smart
card ID), not against the Workgroup (which
enables the RBAC) - Claiming of a LR (or attempting access without a
LR) generates an alert - Alerts are dealt with by Caldicott Guardians an
existing role within the NHS the safeguards of
patient confidentiality - Access logs are kept as long as the EMR
50The Identity Management Challenge
The Identity Management Challenge
51NHS Directories
Each realm contains a separate electronic
identity. Each identity must be validated and
managed.
52Multiple Directory Technologies
- Spine Directory uses Sun One
- NHSmail uses CA eTrust
- 65 of 12,000 NOS use Microsoft AD (or NT4!)
- 35 of 12,000 NOS use Novell eDirectory (or NDS!)
- ESR is Oracle database for most (but not all) NHS
workers - There are unknown number of application services
holding their own username password lists - Plus ID badges and building access swipecards
- All with different administration and standards
No realms membership is wholly congruent with
another. 3rd parties add significantly to the
total (e.g. pharmacists). NHS is one brand
across 1000s of discrete organisations.
53Multiple Identities - example
- Mark Ferrar is registered in
- SPINE as 027649566234 via SmartCard
- NHSMail as Mark.Ferrar_at_nhs.net
- NOS at location A as mafe_at_npfit.nhs.uk
- NOS at location B as \\nhsia\markf
- Local Business Application as MarFer
- Etc..
- On average an typical NHS user has between 5 8
electronic identities stored on different systems - (Only email NOS A are real in this example
but this is typical!)
54Our identity integration challenge
Manage 5 - 8 Million User IDs Need to prove
some IDs beyond reasonable doubt Challenge to
and of Federation Challenge of Data (Attribute)
Synchronisation Challenge of (Self)
Administration
- Reduce user and administrator effort by
integrating multiple identities belonging to the
same person - Synchronise some identity information
- Federate some directory services
- Deliver self-administration portals for users
- Establish provision/de-provision links and
processes - Validate identity at the highest level (e-GIF
Level 3) - Ensure people can access the things they need to
do their jobs, but only the records to which
theyve been granted access
55Summary
- Open standards an integral part of the National
Programme for IT in the NHS - In fact, NPfIT not possible without open,
accessible, interoperable and implementable
standards - But products that implement same standards must
also be compatible and efficient - Inefficient, incomplete or incompatible
implementation are less than useful in fact its
expensive dangerous - FINAL THOUGHT What responsibility does the
standards community take to ensure effective
efficient implementation?