Post-Quantum Zero-Trust Architectures for Healthcare Data Sharing: A Roadmap for National Health Systems

Abstract

The exponential digitalization of healthcare infrastructures offers remarkable potential for the collection, storage, and analysis of patient data in clinical, administrative, and research settings. This digitization, however, also exposes sensitive health information to growing cybersecurity threats. The rapid progress of quantum computing has already invalidated traditional public-key encryption schemes, while Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) continues to emerge as a paradigm that minimizes implicit trust and enforces strict identity management, authentication, and authorization. This article presents a strategic roadmap for the adoption of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) within Zero-Trust frameworks to enable secure healthcare data sharing and analytics at the national health system level. The proposed approach integrates state-of-the-art cryptographic research, emerging secure data-sharing techniques, and innovations in population health informatics to deliver a pragmatic, evidence-based model for building resilient, scalable, and regulation-compliant infrastructures. It also provides relevant, real-world insights, use cases, and technology recommendations for national health authorities, leaders in health informatics, and security architects.