# Key Design Considerations

In order to fulfil architectural principles listed in [Health Claims Data Exchange - Open Specifications](https://docs.hcxprotocol.io/v0.6/open-specifications/design-principles), the protocol needs to consider the following key design elements:

* The protocol must be designed to support the asynchronous exchange of information to support the scale and asynchronous nature of processes in the industry
* The protocol must support the federated deployment of multiple HCX instances.
* In order to ensure the security and privacy of sensitive data
  * The protocol must allow for separation of transport (and any other common information) from sensitive information in the respective flows
  * The protocol must provide for encryption, signing, and auditing of relevant information
* The protocol should allow creating unique identifiers for each message exchange
* The protocol should allow related multiple messages that are part of a single business flow
* The protocol should allow using existing registries for key entities - beneficiary, provider, and payor with a facility to extend them for the specific use case
* The protocol should be designed to allow for the inclusion of the new types of use cases
* The protocol should be designed to allow extending a use case as per the need of the use case/program (for example, a particular government scheme or innovative health financing solution may need different information about the beneficiary, provider, or intervention)

Based on these principles and design considerations, the [next section](https://docs.hcxprotocol.io/v0.6/hcx-technical-specifications/open-protocol/key-components-building-blocks) lists key components of the HCX protocols.

## Questions for Consultation

#### Question 1

Please review [Key Design Considerations](https://docs.hcxprotocol.io/v0.6/hcx-technical-specifications/open-protocol/key-design-considerations) and suggest if there are other considerations that could help in the better design of Open Protocol.

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Instructions to send responses to the consultation questions are available [here](https://docs.hcxprotocol.io/v0.6/how-to-submit-responses).
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