Lee Hsiu-An, Kung Hsin-Hua, Lee Yuarn-Jang, Chao Jane C-J, Udayasankaran Jai Ganesh, Fan Hueng-Chuen, Ng Kwok-Keung, Chang Yu-Kang, Kijsanayotin Boonchai, Marcelo Alvin B, Hsu Chien-Yeh
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Tamkang University, New Taipei, Taiwan.
Taiwan e-Health Association, Taipei, Taiwan.
JMIR Med Inform. 2020 Dec 22;8(12):e20567. doi: 10.2196/20567.
COVID-19 has affected more than 180 countries and is the first known pandemic to be caused by a new virus. COVID-19's emergence and rapid spread is a global public health and economic crisis. However, investigations into the disease, patient-tracking mechanisms, and case report transmissions are both labor-intensive and slow.
The pandemic has overwhelmed health care systems, forcing hospitals and medical facilities to find effective ways to share data. This study aims to design a global infectious disease surveillance and case tracking system that can facilitate the detection and control of COVID-19.
The International Patient Summary (IPS; an electronic health record that contains essential health care information about a patient) was used. The IPS was designed to support the used case scenario for unplanned cross-border care. The design, scope, utility, and potential for reuse of the IPS for unplanned cross-border care make it suitable for situations like COVID-19. The Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources confirmed that IPS data, which includes symptoms, therapies, medications, and laboratory data, can be efficiently transferred and exchanged on the system for easy access by physicians. To protect privacy, patient data are deidentified. All systems are protected by blockchain architecture, including data encryption, validation, and exchange of records.
To achieve worldwide COVID-19 surveillance, a global infectious disease information exchange must be enacted. The COVID-19 surveillance system was designed based on blockchain architecture. The IPS was used to exchange case study information among physicians. After being verified, physicians can upload IPS files and receive IPS data from other global cases. The system includes a daily IPS uploading and enhancement plan, which covers real-time uploading through the interoperation of the clinic system, with the module based on the Open Application Programming Interface architecture. Through the treatment of different cases, drug treatments, and the exchange of treatment results, the disease spread can be controlled, and treatment methods can be funded. In the Infectious Disease Case Tracking module, we can track the moving paths of infectious disease cases. The location information recorded in the blockchain is used to check the locations of different cases. The Case Tracking module was established for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track cases and prevent disease spread.
We created the IPS of infectious diseases for physicians treating patients with COVID-19. Our system can help health authorities respond quickly to the transmission and spread of unknown diseases, and provides a system for information retrieval on disease transmission. In addition, this system can help researchers form trials and analyze data from different countries. A common forum to facilitate the mutual sharing of experiences, best practices, therapies, useful medications, and clinical intervention outcomes from research in various countries could help control an unknown virus. This system could be an effective tool for global collaboration in evidence-based efforts to fight COVID-19.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）已影响180多个国家，是已知首例由新型病毒引发的大流行病。COVID-19的出现和迅速传播是一场全球公共卫生和经济危机。然而，对该疾病的调查、患者追踪机制以及病例报告传递既耗费人力又进展缓慢。
这场大流行病使医疗系统不堪重负，迫使医院和医疗机构寻找有效的数据共享方式。本研究旨在设计一个全球传染病监测和病例追踪系统，以促进对COVID-19的检测和控制。
使用了国际患者摘要（IPS；一种包含患者基本医疗保健信息的电子健康记录）。IPS旨在支持非计划跨境医疗的用例场景。IPS用于非计划跨境医疗的设计、范围、效用和重用潜力使其适用于像COVID-19这样的情况。快速医疗保健互操作性资源证实，包括症状、治疗方法、药物和实验室数据在内的IPS数据可以在系统上高效传输和交换，以便医生轻松访问。为保护隐私，患者数据经过去识别处理。所有系统都由区块链架构保护，包括数据加密、验证和记录交换。
为实现全球范围内的COVID-19监测，必须建立一个全球传染病信息交换机制。基于区块链架构设计了COVID-19监测系统。IPS用于医生之间交换病例研究信息。经过验证后，医生可以上传IPS文件并接收来自其他全球病例的IPS数据。该系统包括每日IPS上传和增强计划，涵盖通过诊所系统的互操作性进行实时上传，模块基于开放应用程序编程接口架构。通过对不同病例的治疗、药物治疗以及治疗结果的交换，可以控制疾病传播，并为治疗方法提供资金支持。在传染病病例追踪模块中，我们可以追踪传染病病例的移动路径。区块链中记录的位置信息用于检查不同病例的位置。为疾病控制与预防中心建立了病例追踪模块，以追踪病例并防止疾病传播。
我们为治疗COVID-19患者的医生创建了传染病国际患者摘要。我们的系统可以帮助卫生当局快速应对未知疾病的传播，并提供一个疾病传播信息检索系统。此外，该系统可以帮助研究人员开展试验并分析来自不同国家的数据。一个促进各国研究中经验、最佳实践、治疗方法、有用药物和临床干预结果相互共享的共同论坛，有助于控制未知病毒。该系统可能是全球合作抗击COVID-19的循证努力中的有效工具。
