Customers: University Health Network (UHN) Contractors: IBM Product: Projects based on blockchain technologyProject date: 2020/03
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At the beginning of March, 2020 the research hospital in Toronto of University Health Network (UHN) together with IBM, eHealth Ontario and the Research institute of a blockchain (Blockchain Research Institute) implemented a blockchain platform for medical records.
Health care systems are very difficult, and the diverse network of the persons providing care, complicates data exchange about patients. On the other hand, patients almost never see as well as with whom doctors exchange their data. The hospital of Toronto decided to use a blockchain for safe data exchange about the state of health. The patient gives individual consent to use of its data and can control their transfer.
Project participants developed the mobile application allowing patients to control movement and use of their personal data. While the application provides access only to information from the database of hospital of Toronto, ideally in the future patients will be able to control all the medical data in one place.
IBM reported that a system uses a private blockchain of Hyperledger Fabric and provides secure access to electronic medical records. An initial project objective — data exchange in the research purposes. Meanwhile, the blockchain platform does not store data of the patient, and only provides access to an informtion on demand.
The blockchain for management of medical data is popular test option of use of a blockchain as allows to communicate in separate network of health care. IBM already has experience of this sort: in 2019 the company worked with Hu-manity.co for application launch of My31 which allows users to control use of the medical information. IBM is also included into consortium of use of blockchain technologies for health care along with Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, HCSC, Sentara and PNC Bank.[1]