Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34505001›Full record

ArticleJAMIA open2021

Designing and testing a blockchain application for patient identity management in healthcare.

Anjum Khurshid, Cole Holan, Cody Cowley, Jeremiah Alexander, Daniel Toshio Harrell, Muhammad Usman, Ishav Desai, John Robert Bautista, Eric Meyer

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in JAMIA open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Anjum KhurshidDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Cole HolanDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Cody CowleyDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Jeremiah AlexanderDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Daniel Toshio HarrellDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Muhammad UsmanCockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Ishav DesaiDepartment of Population Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
John Robert BautistaSchool of Information, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Eric MeyerSchool of Information, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveHealthcare systems suffer from a lack of interoperability that creates "data silos," causing patient linkage and data sharing problems. Blockchain technology's unique architecture provides individuals greater control over their information and may help address some of the problems related to health data. A multidisciplinary team designed and tested a blockchain application, MediLinker, as a patient-centric identity management system.

methodsThe study used simulated data of "avatars" representing different types of patients. Thirty study participants were enrolled to visit simulated clinics, and perform various activities using MediLinker. Evaluation was based on Bouras' criteria for patient-centric identity management and on the number of errors in entry and sharing of data by participants.

resultsTwenty-nine of the 30 participants completed all study activities. MediLinker fulfilled all of Bouras' criteria except for one which was not testable. A majority of data errors were due to user error, such as wrong formatting and misspellings. Generally, the number of errors decreased with time. Due to COVID-19, sprint 2 was completed using "virtual" clinic visits. The number of user errors were less in virtual visits than in personal visits. DISCUSSION: The evaluation of MediLinker provides some evidence of the potential of a patient-centric identity management system using blockchain technology. The results showed a working system where patients have greater control over their information and can also easily provide consent for use of their data.

conclusionBlockchain applications for identity management hold great promise for use in healthcare but further research is needed before real-world adoption.

Indexed as

blockchainhealth informationidentitymobile applicationpatient consent

Identifiers

PMID34505001
PMCPMC7928860

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.