BLOCKCHAIN IN HEALTHCARE TODAY: 2022 PREDICTIONS.

Each year, Blockchain and Healthcare Today reaches out to journal board members, annual ConV2X Symposium speakers, and ecosystem subject matter experts to share their near-term views and perspectives for blockchain technology advances in healthcare. This article presents insights into where authors anticipate market opportunities and where gaps exist that should be addressed for regional and global collaboration, governance, and efficiency for the year 2022.

Decentralized Identity Management for E-Health Applications: State-of-the-Art and Guidance for Future Work.

Background: The increasing use of various online services requires an efficient digital identity management (DIM) approach. Unfortunately, the original Internet protocols were not designed with built-in identity management, which creates challenges related to privacy, security, and usability. There is an increasing societal concern regarding the management of these sensitive data, access to it, and where it is stored.

Medical Students' Perceptions of a Blockchain-Based Decentralized Work History and Credentials Portfolio: Qualitative Feasibility Study.

Background: Increased digitization of health care might challenge some of the trust functions that are established in a traditional health care system. We have, with the concept of VerifyMed, developed a decentralized service for work history and competence verification, as a means to increase trust in the virtual interaction between a patient and a caregiver, mitigate administrative burden, and provide patient-reported outcomes seamlessly for health professionals.

Objective: This research aimed to validate the use case of a decentralized credentials service for health care professionals in Norway.

Relevance of anthropometric measurements as predictors of prevalent diabetes type 2: a cross-sectional study on a Norwegian population.

Objectives: The objective was to determine the predictive potential of anthropometric indices to screen prevalent diabetes mellitus type 2 in a Norwegian population.

Design: This is a cross-sectional design to determine the potential association of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) with prevalent diabetes mellitus type 2 through logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the predictive potential of the anthropometric indices.

Blockchain for Increased Trust in Virtual Health Care: Proof-of-Concept Study.

Background: Health care systems are currently undergoing a digital transformation that has been primarily triggered by emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 5G, blockchain, and the digital representation of patients using (mobile) sensor devices. One of the results of this transformation is the gradual virtualization of care. Irrespective of the care environment, trust between caregivers and patients is essential for achieving favorable health outcomes.

Test, Trace, and Put on the Blockchain?: A Viewpoint Evaluating the Use of Decentralized Systems for Algorithmic Contact Tracing to Combat a Global Pandemic.

The enormous pressure of the increasing case numbers experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a variety of novel digital systems designed to provide solutions to unprecedented challenges in public health. The field of algorithmic contact tracing, in particular, an area of research that had previously received limited attention, has moved into the spotlight as a crucial factor in containing the pandemic. The use of digital tools to enable more robust and expedited contact tracing and notification, while maintaining privacy and trust in the data generated, is viewed as key to identifying chains of transmission and close contacts, and, consequently, to enabling effective case investigations.

Blockchain in healthcare and health sciences-A scoping review.

Background: Blockchain can be described as an immutable ledger, logging data entries in a decentralized manner. This new technology has been suggested to disrupt a wide range of data-driven domains, including the health domain.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to systematically review, assess and synthesize peer-reviewed publications utilizing/proposing to utilize blockchain to improve processes and services in healthcare, health sciences and health education.