A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare

Abstract In healthcare, federated learning (FL) is emerging as a methodology to enable the analysis of large and disparate datasets while allowing custodians to retain sovereignty. While FL minimises data-sharing challenges, concerns surrounding ethics, privacy, maleficent use, and harm remain. Thes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rebekah Eden, Ignatius Chukwudi, Chris Bain, Sebastiano Barbieri, Leonie Callaway, Susan de Jersey, Yasmeen George, Alain-Dominique Gorse, Michael Lawley, Peter Marendy, Steven M. McPhail, Anthony Nguyen, Mahnaz Samadbeik, Clair Sullivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:npj Digital Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01836-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849235404336660480
author Rebekah Eden
Ignatius Chukwudi
Chris Bain
Sebastiano Barbieri
Leonie Callaway
Susan de Jersey
Yasmeen George
Alain-Dominique Gorse
Michael Lawley
Peter Marendy
Steven M. McPhail
Anthony Nguyen
Mahnaz Samadbeik
Clair Sullivan
author_facet Rebekah Eden
Ignatius Chukwudi
Chris Bain
Sebastiano Barbieri
Leonie Callaway
Susan de Jersey
Yasmeen George
Alain-Dominique Gorse
Michael Lawley
Peter Marendy
Steven M. McPhail
Anthony Nguyen
Mahnaz Samadbeik
Clair Sullivan
author_sort Rebekah Eden
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In healthcare, federated learning (FL) is emerging as a methodology to enable the analysis of large and disparate datasets while allowing custodians to retain sovereignty. While FL minimises data-sharing challenges, concerns surrounding ethics, privacy, maleficent use, and harm remain. These concerns can be managed by effective data governance. Data governance specifies procedural, relational, and structural mechanisms governing how data is captured, shared, and analysed, the resultant models and their use. However, limited insights exist on the optimal governance of this emerging technology. This study aims to develop a consolidated framework of the data governance mechanisms for FL in healthcare. A scoping review was performed, using deductive and inductive analysis of 39 articles. The framework includes twelve procedural, ten relational, and twelve structural mechanisms. The framework directs researchers to examine how to enact each mechanism and provides practitioners with insights into the mechanism to consider when governing FL.
format Article
id doaj-art-c9cc1162b5fc42a4bd1e75bbea3e8af6
institution Kabale University
issn 2398-6352
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Digital Medicine
spelling doaj-art-c9cc1162b5fc42a4bd1e75bbea3e8af62025-08-20T04:02:46ZengNature Portfolionpj Digital Medicine2398-63522025-07-018111010.1038/s41746-025-01836-3A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcareRebekah Eden0Ignatius Chukwudi1Chris Bain2Sebastiano Barbieri3Leonie Callaway4Susan de Jersey5Yasmeen George6Alain-Dominique Gorse7Michael Lawley8Peter Marendy9Steven M. McPhail10Anthony Nguyen11Mahnaz Samadbeik12Clair Sullivan13Queensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandQueensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandFaculty of IT, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington RdQueensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandCentre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandCentre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandFaculty of IT, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington RdQueensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandThe Australian e-Health Research Centre, CSIRO, 296 Herston RoadQueensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation, 47 Staff House RdAustralian Centre for Health Services Innovation and Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park RoadThe Australian e-Health Research Centre, CSIRO, 296 Herston RoadQueensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandQueensland Digital Health Centre, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of QueenslandAbstract In healthcare, federated learning (FL) is emerging as a methodology to enable the analysis of large and disparate datasets while allowing custodians to retain sovereignty. While FL minimises data-sharing challenges, concerns surrounding ethics, privacy, maleficent use, and harm remain. These concerns can be managed by effective data governance. Data governance specifies procedural, relational, and structural mechanisms governing how data is captured, shared, and analysed, the resultant models and their use. However, limited insights exist on the optimal governance of this emerging technology. This study aims to develop a consolidated framework of the data governance mechanisms for FL in healthcare. A scoping review was performed, using deductive and inductive analysis of 39 articles. The framework includes twelve procedural, ten relational, and twelve structural mechanisms. The framework directs researchers to examine how to enact each mechanism and provides practitioners with insights into the mechanism to consider when governing FL.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01836-3
spellingShingle Rebekah Eden
Ignatius Chukwudi
Chris Bain
Sebastiano Barbieri
Leonie Callaway
Susan de Jersey
Yasmeen George
Alain-Dominique Gorse
Michael Lawley
Peter Marendy
Steven M. McPhail
Anthony Nguyen
Mahnaz Samadbeik
Clair Sullivan
A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
npj Digital Medicine
title A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
title_full A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
title_fullStr A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
title_full_unstemmed A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
title_short A scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
title_sort scoping review of the governance of federated learning in healthcare
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01836-3
work_keys_str_mv AT rebekaheden ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT ignatiuschukwudi ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT chrisbain ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT sebastianobarbieri ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT leoniecallaway ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT susandejersey ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT yasmeengeorge ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT alaindominiquegorse ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT michaellawley ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT petermarendy ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT stevenmmcphail ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT anthonynguyen ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT mahnazsamadbeik ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT clairsullivan ascopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT rebekaheden scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT ignatiuschukwudi scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT chrisbain scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT sebastianobarbieri scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT leoniecallaway scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT susandejersey scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT yasmeengeorge scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT alaindominiquegorse scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT michaellawley scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT petermarendy scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT stevenmmcphail scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT anthonynguyen scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT mahnazsamadbeik scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare
AT clairsullivan scopingreviewofthegovernanceoffederatedlearninginhealthcare