IP Library Granted Patent US 11,244,059
Granted Patent B2
US 11,244,059 · App. 15/982,626 · Granted Feb 8, 2022

Blockchain for managing access to medical data

Inventors: Woong A. Yoon (Boxborough, MA); Alex Casella (Cambridge, MA)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
G06F21/602G16H10/60H04L9/0637H04L9/14H04L9/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,244,059
App. No.
15/982,626
Granted
Feb 8, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

An example operation may include one or more of receiving medical data of a user, creating metadata of the medical data which includes a unique identifier of the user and a searchable description of the medical data which describes one or more attributes included in the medical data but does not expose the medical data, encrypting the medical data to generate encrypted medical data, generating a data block having stored therein the created metadata of the medical data and the encrypted medical data, and storing the generated data block within a distributed ledger such that the generated data block is hash-linked to a previous data block on the distributed ledger.

Claims (39)

1. A computing system, comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive a medical file of a user comprising data that is subject to regulations by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA),

create metadata of the medical file which includes a unique identifier of the user and a searchable description of medical content included in the medical file, where the searchable description is created to include only descriptive terms that are not subject to regulations of HIPPA,

encrypt the medical data to generate encrypted medical data,

generate a data block that has stored therein the created metadata of the medical data which is not subject to the regulations of HIPPA and the encrypted medical data,

and

store the generated data block within the blockchain.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the searchable description of the medical content comprises a generic textual description of one or more of a type of treatment performed for the user, a medical condition of the user, and disease information of the user.

3. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to encrypt the medical data based on a symmetric key.

4. The computing system of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to encrypt the symmetric key based on a public key and store the encrypted symmetric key within the generated data block.

5. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate and output a search interface configured to receive input and perform a search of metadata stored on the distributed ledger based on the received input.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted medical data stored on the distributed ledger satisfies security and privacy regulations of the medical data.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a request, via the distributed ledger, for access to the medical data from a data consumer.

8. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to store, on the blockchain, consent from the user for accessing the medical data which includes an encryption key used to encrypt the medical data.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving a medical file of a user comprising data that is subject to regulations by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA);

creating metadata of the medical file which includes a unique identifier of the user and a searchable description of medical content included in the medical file, where the searchable description is created to include only descriptive terms that are not subject to regulations of HIPPA;

encrypting the medical data to generate encrypted medical data;

generating a data block having stored therein the created metadata of the medical data which is not subject to the regulations of HIPPA and the encrypted medical data;

and

storing the generated data block within the blockchain.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the searchable description of the medical content comprises a generic textual description of one or more of a type of treatment performed for the user, a medical condition of the user, and disease information of the user.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the encrypting the medical data comprises encrypting the medical data based on a symmetric key.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising encrypting the symmetric key based on a public key and storing the encrypted symmetric key within the generated data block.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising outputting a search interface configured to receive input and perform a search of metadata stored on the distributed ledger based on the received input.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the encrypted medical data stored on the distributed ledger satisfies security and privacy regulations of the medical data.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving a request, via the distributed ledger, for access to the medical data from a data consumer.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises storing, on the blockchain, consent from the user for accessing the medical data which includes an encryption key used to encrypt the medical data.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, that when read by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

receiving a medical file of a user comprising data that is subject to regulations by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA);

creating metadata of the medical file which includes a unique identifier of the user and a searchable description of medical content included in the medical file, where the search description is created to include only descriptive terms that are not subject to regulations of HIPPA;

encrypting the medical data to generate encrypted medical data;

generating a data block having stored therein the created metadata of the medical data which is not subject to the regulations of HIPPA and the encrypted medical data;

and

storing the generated data block within the blockchain.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the searchable description of the medical content comprises a generic textual description of one or more of a type of treatment performed to the user, a medical condition of the user, and disease information of the user.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises outputting a search interface configured to receive input and perform a search of metadata stored on the distributed ledger based on the received input.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the created metadata and the encrypted medical data stored on the distributed ledger satisfy security and privacy regulations of the medical data.

Assignments (3)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 1, 2025
From: MERATIVE US L.P.; MERGE HEALTHCARE INCORPORATED
To: TCG SENIOR FUNDING L.L.C., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 072808/0442 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 21, 2022
From: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
To: MERATIVE US L.P.
Reel/Frame 061496/0752 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 17, 2018
From: YOON, WOONG A.; CASELLA, ALEX
To: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 045836/0632 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190354693A1 · Nov 21, 2019
Cited By (3)
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