How to use blockchain for diabetes health care data and access management: An operational concept

Introduction: Patients with diabetes often generate large amounts of data specifically related to the disease and to their general health. Cross-institutional sharing of patient health care data is complex, and as a consequence, data are not always available to the health care provider treating the patient. Accommodating this challenge could lead to better clinical effectiveness and improve clinical research. This work aims to present an approach for a blockchain-based platform for sharing health care data. The approach considers privacy concerns, data sharing, and patients as the center for governing their own data. Methods: The concept of this blockchain-based platform consists of using the NEM multi-signature blockchain contracts for access control of data management and the sharing and encryption of data to allow privacy and control of health care data. The architecture is built around cryptography, tokens, and multi-signature contracts. The multi-signature contract enables several entities to administrate the activity of an account and control the assets of one account. Multi-signature generates a contract that assigns the rights and powers of a certain account to other accounts; this contract can be edited to allow or remove entities. Discussion: Using blockchain could lead to improvements in diabetes data management. In the coming years, this technology should be implemented in existing small-scale diabetes health care system to explore its real-world benefits and challenges. Conclusion: This new approach could potentially lead to more efficient sharing of data between institutions and utilization of new types of data and research possibilities.