The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) along with the Ethereum software company has announced the launch of the Medoxie COVID-19 Digital Health Passport. The platform uses blockchain technology to record all COVID-19 related events such as test results, temperature checks, vaccinations, and immunity in a decentralized, private, and secure manner.
Why does it matter?
During the pandemic, there is an ongoing need for healthcare providers to undergo frequent COVID-19 testing, have regular temperature checks, and keep a documented history of their vaccinations. This data is vital to giving the population safe access to hospitals, shops, workplaces, and government buildings, as well as reopening international borders. However, it is essential that a patient’s private data remains confidential and the users have full control of which parties can have access to their data, whilst also ensuring the data is validated and immutable. The Medoxie COVID-19 Digital Health Passport will solve these challenges using blockchain technology.
The digital COVID-19 Passport will be used by multiple stakeholders including Hong Kong healthcare professionals and academics during the launch and later on the app can be extended its usage to patients. The COVID-19 Data Passport platform has been built using ConsenSys Quorum and Codefi Orchestrate.
How does it work?
Users can register and create an account on the COVID-19 Digital Health Passport, which is available in dual languages (English or Chinese). Once their identity is validated and account is created, patients can grant permission to healthcare providers (e.g. doctors and nurses) to store test results on their mobile passport, choose who to share their records with, and receive notifications regarding updates to their records. The COVID-19 Digital Health Passport allows limited and consented access to a patient’s Private Health Information (PHI) whilst safeguarding the privacy of personal data. The decentralized storage of PHI means that no-one, except the patient, has access to control their data.
Health care providers such as hospitals and clinics can use the COVID-19 Digital Health Passport to verify a user’s identity, record covid test results, and log vaccinations. Users can also store their daily temperature checks on the platform. This data is summarised in the passport and individuals can consent to share this data with third parties.
In addition, the COVID-19 Digital Health Passport will enable academics at CUHK to perform large-scale data analysis to better understand the impact and longevity of immunity following vaccinations. Blockchain technology allows for big data aggregation, analytics and modeling, whilst preserving patients’ privacy by only collecting anonymized data.
On the record
“Our blockchain digital health passport has been developed to support the fight against the pandemic. We are excited to work with ConsenSys to develop this platform.” says Dr. Marten Erik Brelen, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and principal investigator of the project.
“This COVID-19 blockchain passport uses trusted blockchain technology to protect user data, making it verifiable and secure. We are proud to support The Chinese University of Hong Kong with its efforts to apply innovative technologies to help health sectors and communities proactively respond to COVID-19, and transition back to life as normal” says Dr. Arafet Ben Makhlouf, Senior Technical Architect at ConsenSys.
The context
The use of blockchain in healthcare has been growing in recent years. If you’re into this subject, we suggest you check out our report “Blockchain in Healthcare” where we go in great detail about the key players and technologies in this sector. Check it out.