medrec
17476930
MedRec: Using Blockchain for Medical Data Access and Permission Management
Years of heavy regulation and bureaucratic inefficiency have slowed innovation for electronic medical records (EMRs) We now face a critical need for such innovation, as personalization and data science prompt patients to engage in the details of their healthcare and restore agency over their medical data. In this paper, we propose MedRec: a novel, decentralized record management system to handle EMRs, using blockchain technology. Our system gives patients a comprehensive, immutable log and easy access to their medical information across providers and treatment sites. Leveraging unique blockchain properties, MedRec manages authentication, confidentiality, accountability and data sharing crucial considerations when handling sensitive information. A modular design integrates with providers' existing, local data storage solutions, facilitating interoperability and making our system convenient and adaptable. We incentivize medical stakeholders (researchers, public health authorities, etc. to participate in the network as blockchain "miners" This provides them with access to aggregate, anonymized data as mining rewards, in return for sustaining and securing the network via Proof of Work. MedRec thus enables the emergence of data economics, supplying big data to empower researchers while engaging patients and providers in the choice to release metadata. The purpose of this short paper is to expose, prior to field tests, a working prototype through which we analyze and discuss our approach.
2016 2nd International Conference on Open and Big Data (OBD)
Asaph Azaria Ariel Ekblaw Thiago Vieira Andrew Lippman
115196942
MedRec: A Network for Personal Information Distribution
MedRec is a simple, distributed system for personal control of identity and distribution of personal information. The work is done in the context of a medical information distribution system where patients retain control over who can access their data. We present a new architecture for the MedRec project, creating a network of trusted data repositories, the access to which are determined by a set of "smart contracts" These contracts are stored on a distributed ledger maintained by those who generate data. The distributed nature of the system allows unified access from diverse sources in a single application with no intermediary. This increases patient control while retaining a measure of privacy of both data content and source. MedRec is amenable to extensions for decentralized messaging and distribution of information to third parties such as medical researchers, healthcare proxies, and other institutions. The system is based on a blockchain that contains smart contracts defining user identity and distribution specifics.
2019 International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications (ICNC)
Nchinda Nchinda Agnes Cameron Kalli Retzepi Andrew Lippman
27517929
A Case Study for Blockchain in Healthcare " MedRec " prototype for electronic health records and medical research data
A long standing focus on compliance has traditionally constrained development of fundamental design changes for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) We now face a critical need for such innovation, as personalization and data science prompt patients to engage in the details of their healthcare and restore agency over their medical data. In this paper, we propose MedRec: a novel, decentralized record management system to handle EHRs, using blockchain technology. Our system gives patients a comprehensive, immutable log and easy access to their medical information across providers and treatment sites. Leveraging unique blockchain properties, MedRec manages authentication, confidentiality, accountability and data sharing crucial considerations when handling sensitive information. A modular design integrates with providers' existing, local data storage solutions, facilitating interoperability and making our system convenient and adaptable. We incentivize medical stakeholders (researchers, public health authorities, etc. to participate in the network as blockchain "miners" This provides them with access to aggregate, anonymized data as mining rewards, in return for sustaining and securing the network via Proof of Work. MedRec thus enables the emergence of data economics, supplying big data to empower researchers while engaging patients and providers in the choice to release metadata. The purpose of this paper is to expose, in preparation for field tests, a working prototype through which we analyze and discuss our approach and the potential for blockchain in health IT and research.
Ariel Ekblaw Asaph Azaria John D Halamka Andrew Lippman
201589408
Structure of Inter Professional Knowledge Exchange Related to "EHR MedRec" within an SKN System
Similar to issues faced in health systems across U.S. AU Health faced a scenario of low physician engagement in, and limited use of its EHR Medication Reconciliation (MedRec) technology. In fall 2.
Academy of Management Proceedings
Pavani Rangachari Karl Rethemeyer
201425559
Dynamics of Inter Professional Learning Related to "EHR MedRec" within an SKN System
Similar to issues faced in health systems across U.S. AU Health faced a scenario of low physician engagement in, and limited use of its Electronic Health Record (EHR) Medication Reconciliation (Me.
Academy of Management Proceedings
Pavani Rangachari Karl Rethemeyer
64787948
MedRec blockchain for medical data access, permission management and trend analysis
Years of heavy regulation and a long standing focus on compliance have co opted the ability of the healthcare industry to implement novel data sharing approaches. We now face a critical need for such innovation, as personalization and data science prompt patients to engage in the details of their healthcare and restore agency over their medical data. This thesis proposes MedRec: a novel, decentralized record management system to handle EHRs (Electronic Health Records) using blockchain technology. The system design gives patients a comprehensive, immutable log and access to their medical information across providers and treatment sites. Leveraging unique blockchain properties, MedRec manages authentication, data retrieval, update tracking for existing records, data entry (both for patients and providers) and data sharing. MedRec accomplishes record management without creating any centralized data repositories; a modular system design integrates with providers' existing, local data storage solutions, facilitating interoperable data exchange between data sources and the patients. We incentivize healthcare industry stakeholders (government funded researchers, public health authorities, etc. to participate in the network as blockchain "miners" This provides them with access to aggregate, anonymized data as mining rewards, in return for sustaining and securing the MedRec network via Proof of Work. We emphasize the flexibility and extensibility of our system components to other dimensions of the healthcare industry and to applications beyond healthcare as well. This thesis describes the MedRec technical design and early stage prototype, our pilot with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and an analysis of MedRec's contribution in the context of national healthcare priorities. This work is supported by the MIT Media Lab Consortium. Thesis Supervisor: Andrew Lippman Title: Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab
Ariel Ekblaw
189333375
medrec 2.0
Andrew Lippman Nchinda Nchinda Agnes Cameron Kalli Retzepi
199005589
MedRec patient centered medical records using a distributed permission management system
Nchinda Nchinda
189521511
MedRec IEEE submission
Andrew Lippman Nchinda Nchinda Kalli Retzepi Agnes Cameron
53379593
MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain
Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) crave innovation. Years of regulation have stied tech development in medical data management, while an array of incompatible back end systems and fragmented data trails limit patients' ability to engage with their medical history. We demonstrate MedRec as a solution tuned to the needs of patients, the treatment community, and medical researchers. MedRec applies novel, blockchain smart contracts to create a decentralized content management system for your healthcare data, across providers. The MedRec authentication log governs medical record access, while providing means for auditability and data sharing. A modular design integrates with providers' existing, local data storage solutions, enabling interoperability and making our system convenient and adaptable. As a key feature of our work, we engage the medical research community with an integral MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain Ariel Ekblaw, Asaf Azaria Follow Pub 14 Content 5 Versions 7 Contributors 1 Journal Search PubPub Login Signup 2/27/2017 MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain PubPub https:/www.pubpub.org/pub/medrec 2/16 role in the protocol. Medical researchers provide the "mining" necessary to secure and sustain the authentication log on a private, Ethereum network, in return for privacypreserving, medical metadata in the form of "transaction fees." Our Motivation Approach From fragmented access to comprehensive access Patients interact with a staggering number of health care providers through the course of their lives from pediatrician, to university physician, dentist, employer health plan provider, specialists, and more. At each stage, they leave data scattered across a particular jurisdiction's system [1] This leads to a fragmented data trail and decaying ease of access, as providers often retain primary data stewardship (either via default practices or explicit legal provisions in over 21 states) [2] Our MedRec prototype enables patients with one stop shop access to their medical history across multiple providers: smart contracts on an Ethereum blockchain [2] aggregate data pointers (references to medical records that are stored elsewhere) into "patient provider relationships." These contract data structures 2/27/2017 MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain PubPub https:/www.pubpub.org/pub/medrec 3/16 are stored on the blockchain and associate references to disparate medical data with ownership and viewership permissions and record retrieval location. This provides an immutable data lifecycle log, enabling later auditing. We include a cryptographic hash of the record in the smart contract to establish a baseline of the original content and thus provide a check against content tampering. The raw medical record content is never stored on the blockchain, but rather kept securely in providers' existing data storage infrastructure. MedRec facilitates reviewing, sharing and posting of new records via a exible user interface, designed to reect best practices from the Blue Button health record competition [1] We abstract away the blockchain technology to focus on usability for the medical record use case. The interface includes a notications system to alert users when a new record has been posted on their behalf or shared with them. From data rigidity to data sharing Interoperability challenges between dierent provider systems pose signicant barriers to eective data sharing. Patients face hurdles in authorizing data exchange (with other consulting physicians or even family members) due to the lack of a common interface or standard system that orchestrates record access across databases [1] MedRec provides streamlined data sharing functionality by updating viewership 2/27/2017 MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain PubPub https:/www.pubpub.org/pub/medrec 4/16 permissions on the relevant data pointers. With pointers to patient data aggregated in smart contracts on the blockchain, we can oer a single, common interface where patients chose when, and with whom, they share their data. From obscurity to clarity While most valuable to the patient and provider, medical records also prove critical for research. A recent report from the Oce of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology emphasizes that biomedical and public health researchers "require the ability to analyze information from many sources in order to identify public health risks, develop new treatments and cures, and enable precision medicine" [1] Though some data trickles through to researchers from clinical studies, surveys and teaching hospitals, we note a growing interest among patients, care providers and regulatory bodies to responsibly share more data, and thus enable better care for others [1] With MedRec, we incentivize medical researchers and other healthcare stakeholders to participate in the blockchain network as "miners" (see Appendix: Bitcoin Basics for more on mining and the fundamentals of blockchain) These researchers can now obtain greater clarity in their investigations by earning census level, anonymized metadata in return for contributing the computational resources that sustain the network. MedRec enables the emergence of data economics between data consumer and data producer, as 2/27/2017 MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain PubPub https:/www.pubpub.org/pub/medrec 5/16 the system supplies big data to empower researchers while engaging patients and providers in the choice of how much metadata to release. Designing for patient agency When designing new systems to overcome current EMR challenges, we must prioritize patient agency. Patients benet from a holistic, transparent view of their medical history, and in the age of online banking and social media, patients are increasingly willing, able and desirous of managing their data on the web and on the go [4] MedRec restores patient agency by empowering users with a focal point for access and review of their medical history, and an easy mechanism for sharing their data across medical jurisdictions. Patients can authorize a new doctor to review their record and obtain a second opinion, or grant viewership rights to a guardian they trust. Grandparents can seamlessly share medical data with their families, to reduce the mystery of family health history. Furthermore, the authorization log persists in the distributed network, providing crucial back up and restore functionality. Patients can leave and rejoin the system multiple times, for arbitrary periods, and regain access to their history by downloading the latest blockchain from the network. Summary of MedRec contributions: 2/27/2017 MedRec: Medical Data Management on the Blockchain PubPub https:/www.pubpub.org/pub/medrec 6/16 Comprehensive, immutable log of authentication permissions for ease of data access and auditing Data sharing authorization, with oblockchain content syncing Interoperability with providers' existing data storage infrastructure Blockchain mining incentives for medical researchers via anonymized metadata rewards Custom API for handling smart contract content and posting to a private, Ethereum blockchain Intuitively designed user interface for patient and provider use
Ariel Ekblaw Asaf Azaria