Health Code of Conduct: A Blockchain Model for Health Metrics and Sharing (Preprint)

Abstract

Health is the most valuable property of all humans, and for long, scientists have had to cope with a tremendous amount of health-related data globally. Recording of health data has always faced challenges concerning privacy, accuracy, and interoperability. So in this study, we intended to summarize health records to a minimal and abridged string that can be easily reused and shared among health systems. For this purpose, we attempted to use various coding systems and combine them with disability codes defined in Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies to reach a unique method for presenting health records. However, this type of data is prone to disclosing personal information and should be secured safely. Today, one of the safest methods for storing and sharing data is a blockchain network that makes data transactions safe and secure.

Ultimately, we have envisaged a global network of interconnected health data communicating through approved protocols, namely the Internet of Health data (IoHd).

In other words, we propose a decentralized, blockchain-based network where EHRs (Electronic Health Records) are stored in the form of a hashed health code, as explained earlier. The distributed system connects the health-related data among the trusted nodes, leading to the emergence of IoH.

This data would be hashed health codes stored on the blockchain, so all healthcare professionals and health-related corporations/institutions/companies may access this network using their login information. The network consists of three sub-networks, the private (for health wallets), the permissioned (for care wallets), and the or pseudonymous (for data wallets).

Considering blockchain technology's high security and privacy, it would be possible to safely and widely provide relevant health information for caregivers, healthcare professionals, research centers, big data studies, and artificial intelligence platforms to offer better access, data storage, care provision, data transfer, and surveillance.