Highly private blockchain-based management system for digital COVID-19 certificates

A data management system for precision medicine

Precision, or personalised medicine has advanced requirements for medical data management systems (MedDMSs). MedDMS for precision medicine should be able to process hundreds of parameters from multiple sites, be adaptable while remaining in sync at multiple locations, real-time syncing to analytics and be compliant with international privacy legislation. This paper describes the LogiqSuite software solution, aimed to support a precision medicine solution at the patient care (LogiqCare), research (LogiqScience) and data science (LogiqAnalytics) level. LogiqSuite is certified and compliant with international medical data and privacy legislations. This paper evaluates a MedDMS in five types of use cases for precision medicine, ranging from data collection to algorithm development and from implementation to integration with real-world data. The MedDMS is evaluated in seven precision medicine data science projects in prehospital triage, cardiovascular disease, pulmonology, and oncology. The P4O2 consortium uses the MedDMS as an electronic case report form (eCRF) that allows real-time data management and analytics in long covid and pulmonary diseases. In an acute myeloid leukaemia, study data from different sources were integrated to facilitate easy descriptive analytics for various research questions. In the AIDPATH project, LogiqCare is used to process patient data, while LogiqScience is used for pseudonymous CAR-T cell production for cancer treatment. In both these oncological projects the data in LogiqAnalytics is also used to facilitate machine learning to develop new prediction models for clinical-decision support (CDS). The MedDMS is also evaluated for real-time recording of CDS data from U-Prevent for cardiovascular risk management and from the Stroke Triage App for prehospital triage. The MedDMS is discussed in relation to other solutions for privacy-by-design, integrated data stewardship and real-time data analytics in precision medicine. LogiqSuite is used for multi-centre research study data registrations and monitoring, data analytics in interdisciplinary consortia, design of new machine learning / artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, development of new or updated prediction models, integration of care with advanced therapy production, and real-world data monitoring in using CDS tools. The integrated MedDMS application supports data management for care and research in precision medicine.

The Hyperledger fabric as a Blockchain framework preserves the security of electronic health records

The Hyperledger Fabric (HF) framework is widely studied for securing electronic health records (EHRs) in the healthcare sector. Despite the various cross-domain blockchain technology (BCT) applications, little is known about the role of the HF framework in healthcare. The purpose of the systematic literature review (SLR) is to review the existing literature on the HF framework and its applications in healthcare. This SLR includes literature published between January 2015 and March 2023 in the ACM digital library, IEEE Xplore, SCOPUS, Springer, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 57 articles emerged as eligible for this SLR. The HF framework was found to be useful in securing health records coming from the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and many other devices. The main causes behind using the HF framework were identified as privacy and security, integrity, traceability, and availability of health records. Additionally, storage issues with transactional data over the blockchain are reduced by the use of the HF framework. This SLR also highlights potential future research trends to ensure the high-level security of health records.

Accelerated Digitalization of the Epidemiological Measures: Overcoming the Technological and Process Complexities of Establishing the EU Digital COVID Certificate in Slovenia

OBJECTIVE

In order to facilitate free movement of EU citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2021 the European Commission proposed the establishment of an EU Digital COVID Certificate. By 1 July 2021, all EU Member States have successfully implemented the EU Digital COVID Certificate. The technological and procedural complexities encountered while establishing the EU Digital COVID Certificate in Slovenia are reviewed in this article.

METHODS

This research employs a case study methodology. Controlled focus group sessions comprising eighteen eminent experts (not including medical and other expert groups involved in the epidemiological measures) in charge of the EU Digital COVID Certificate and other national eHealth services in Slovenia were used as the primary data collection technique. Focus group discussions were preceded by an all-encompassing review of the literature and the examination of numerous materials covering the EU Digital COVID Certificate-related content.

RESULTS

The study findings reveal that the technological and process complexities are associated with the fragmented data sources and complicated and abundant business rules used for the generation and verification of the EU Digital COVID Certificate. However, despite the technological, process and other impediments that arose during the establishment of the EU Digital COVID Certificate in Slovenia, it can be argued that the approach used and stakeholder commitment, especially in critical pandemic conditions, offered the much-desired harmonisation and application of this digital service at the EU level.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights the importance of a sound and coherent model for the impending establishment of cross-border eHealth services and suggests that the ad hoc implementation of such challenging and delicate digital solutions in the future will only be feasible with the prior construction of robust and interoperable digital health infrastructures across the EU Member States.