Healthcare data on the blockchain

  1. Images - you could make things complicated with sending the entire image, or the smartcontract dapp includes access to the original source storage of the image (Stanford, Sutter, or a local facility).
  2. In terms of transaction fees, that needs to be flushed out. Facilities charge patients for a copy of their records anyways, so a user access fee is reasonable - it could be included in the smart contract for physician care however - particularly if you make insurance companies redundant.
  3. This is answered by what MHMD is doing. If you give access to facilities and research, then all that data from authorized patients becomes accessible. There is also a colleague who is working to monetizing the research access so that if a patient shares their data for research - the patient gets paid/incentivized etc… Lots of options.

I think the key to all of this is to place the patient in mind first, then security and all with an underpinning of ethical foundations. Truly decentralized healthcare means better healthcare access to the people and to empower the people to manage their data sharing and their rights and to subsidize the patient for any research or medical breakthrough achieved by the big companies.
If every smart contract and record is immutable and permanent, then if your lung cancer pathology report was used in a clinical study on the development of a $20000 chemo drug, you get a piece of it.

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Just catching up on this thread. Glad to connect.

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:poland: Polish translation

Having patient data in the blockchain doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be stored in the same “place”: different health institutions may still create different profiles for the same patient tied to different e.g. smart contract addresses.

Also, data in the blockchain is public and not all patients may like having his/her full health profile publicly discoverable and therefore available for full reading (even though blockchain addresses provide anonymity of your data, unless you reveal your public address to someone and therefore such someone becomes aware that such blockchain address is specifically about you). In other words: if someone is doxxed (i.e. “identified”) concerning his/her address and corresponding data in the blockchain, such person may not like it, yet this is going to be an irreversible fact, because what’s stored in the blockchain is stored (and, therefore, publicly available) forever.

Thanks for posting this - there’s so much potential here and so many challenges to work through. I’ve been thinking through this myself.

Some thoughts on this I have are here: Vital: a new approach to healthcare record digitization via the Cardano Network — ADAventures.io

Hi, Thanks for such a wonderful article. I really liked your views and the information you shared. Even I learned about Atala Prism. Since we are living in a digitally growing world where I even order my pack of cigarettes online at a discounted price and enjoy the service, I never realize that I am compromising my Identity, my lifestyle details, and even my privacy so I feel that its important to have control of your privacy, Identity, and life and platforms like Atala Prism are doing really great.

I have been reading about Digital Identity for a long time now and I have come across some platforms that are based on Cardano and working in the same problem statement. Few of them are working in the healthcare ecosystem on the Cardano blockchain-powered by AI with self-sovereign identification. And few are working on sorting the key areas of Digital Identity. I would like to share my favorites:

  1. Immunify.Life: Immunify.Life is a transformative ecosystem secured by blockchain with the mission to transform the landscape of health management and data utilization.
    The project leverages the power of Big Health Data and Artificial Intelligence to ensure seamless movement of de-identified patient healthcare data. They have established a strong presence in Africa with a team that has over 60 years of combined experience in the relevant industries.

It is a world-first holistic and self-sustaining ecosystem to solve global health management crises and data collection challenges. Immunify.Life has designed a unique AI-supported incentivized digital disease health registry using immutable NFTs, and secured by blockchain.

  1. PhotoChromic: PhotoChromic is the first intuitive, biometrically managed Self-Sovereign Identity system built on the blockchain. The protocol aggregates biometric liveness, government-backed identity, and unique personal attributes into an on-chain NFTs that can be used for Web3 applications and on-chain verification.

The protocol’s intuitive self-sovereign identity system ensures a high level of security and allows for the self-management of users’ online identities. It also enables the verification of true biometric identity linked to one’s physical and digital assets.

Please feel free to share your views about these platforms.

Very interesting …

The whole purpose is to be able to store everything on the blockchain so it can be encrypted and you can access it only if patient’s gives their consent right?

Will doctors be able to access the patient’s information without authorization?
How does a doctor have access to the medical information in case of an emergency ?

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Hi Praveen - I am also planning to work on implementing blockchain for healthcare. I am working for digital health innovation hub in Ireland and want to know the major challenges and advises you have from your research. Any slides, paper … will be helpful. Plus if you know any other blockchain frameworks that might suit healthcare.

Patient centered care…
Ensure the control of information remains with the patient/individuals no matter what.
Consider the possibility of abuse of power by authoritarian entities, and use of information against the patient/individuals, as is the case right now in many parts of the world.

Be kind
And please consider the underrepresented when you develop this technology.

Just throwing this out there… I have 8 years experience in hospital laboratory services. 4 years of lab management. I am an early adopter of Cardano and love my NFTs. I am aware of the unlimited potential of Heath data and blockchain for the patient and the provider. I’m willing to put all my energy to onboard laboratory data and medical records on the chain. Also willing to relocate! Cheers.

For which problem does a blockchain provide a solution in this realm?

Can’t we just get signed PDFs from our healthcare providers and be good?

The data itself is too much to put on a chain. It will have to live off-chain in some kind of more-or-less decentralised cloud.

The healthcare providers have to be onboard either way. If they do not consent on using this strange blockchain technology that up to now only gamblers use, the data will never be put in this shiny new system. But then, they could also consent to the much simpler system of giving me a signed PDF with my data that I can choose to archive however I want and give to whomever I want.

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