Privacy Compliance
How PRIVATEMED's architecture enhances patient data privacy and security
Privacy by Design
PRIVATEMED was architected from the ground up with privacy as a fundamental principle, following the "Privacy by Design" approach. The decoupled two-stage architecture inherently enhances privacy protection by isolating sensitive image data from the diagnostic inference process.
Key Privacy Advantage: Stage 2 (PRIVATEMED-Dx), which performs the diagnostic inference, operates exclusively on the textual description generated by Stage 1, never accessing the original medical image directly.
How PRIVATEMED's Architecture Enhances Privacy
Data Isolation
The diagnostic engine (Stage 2) is architecturally isolated from direct access to patient images, creating a fundamental privacy-preserving barrier.
Local Deployment
The efficient design of PRIVATEMED-Dx (quantized to ~6.5 GB) makes it practical for local deployment on institutional infrastructure, keeping sensitive diagnostic operations within the healthcare facility's secure environment.
Risk Surface Reduction
By decoupling image handling from diagnostic reasoning, PRIVATEMED significantly reduces the risk surface associated with patient data exposure.
Institutional Control
Healthcare institutions retain full control over patient data during the diagnostic reasoning phase, a critical factor for compliance and trust.
Regulatory Alignment
PRIVATEMED's design principles align with key requirements of major healthcare privacy regulations, facilitating compliance within healthcare settings.
HIPAA (US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
- Minimum Necessary Principle: Aligns with HIPAA's principle of minimizing data access to only what is necessary, as the diagnostic component works solely with de-identified textual descriptions.
- Data Segmentation: Supports HIPAA-compliant workflows by enabling the separation of identifiable patient information from analytical processes.
- Local Control: Facilitates compliance by keeping sensitive diagnostic operations within the covered entity's controlled environment.
GDPR (European General Data Protection Regulation)
- Data Minimization: Supports GDPR's requirement that personal data processing be limited to what is necessary for the specific purpose.
- Privacy by Design and Default: Directly implements GDPR's Article 25 requirements for building privacy protection into system architecture.
- Reduced Data Transfer: Helps limit cross-border data transfers that might otherwise trigger additional GDPR compliance requirements.
"The PRIVATEMED framework's architectural separation between image processing and diagnostic inference represents a significant advancement in supporting healthcare institutions' ability to maintain regulatory compliance while leveraging AI capabilities."
Implementation Recommendations
While PRIVATEMED's architecture provides inherent privacy advantages, proper implementation is critical for maintaining these benefits in production environments:
Recommended Deployment Approach
- Stage 1 Options:
- Local Deployment: For maximum privacy, deploy both Stage 1 (PRIVATEMED-Vision) and Stage 2 (PRIVATEMED-Dx) within the institutional environment.
- Edge Computing: If local GPU resources are limited, consider edge computing solutions that process images on-premises before generating descriptions.
- Hybrid Approach: If using cloud resources for Stage 1, implement proper anonymization protocols before image processing.
- Stage 2 Deployment: We strongly recommend local deployment of the PRIVATEMED-Dx component to maximize privacy benefits and maintain full institutional control over the diagnostic process.
- Network Isolation: Consider network isolation for the diagnostic component to further enhance security.
- Audit Logging: Implement comprehensive logging for all operations to support compliance verification and monitoring.
Important Note: PRIVATEMED's design facilitates regulatory compliance but does not guarantee it. Organizations must implement appropriate policies, procedures, and technical safeguards alongside the technology to ensure comprehensive compliance with relevant regulations.