JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Despite the rapid adoption rate of electronic health records in industrialized countries, they are still problems in the dissemination of personal health records (PHRs). The token economy on a blockchain can help in PHRs dissemination by giving patients benefits to their participation. However, there have been few studies regarding the design of the incentive mechanism.

Objective:

This paper aims to provide two mathematical models of token economy induced in real-world scenarios on healthcare blockchain platforms that have not been presented in any previous research.

Methods:

First, we assume mechanisms of the healthcare blockchain platform and token flow on it. Second, we introduce two scenarios; collecting life-log data using a vitality program application and recruiting clinical trial participants. In the two scenarios, there are three classes of members: participants, clinical trial organizers, and data providers. We focus on minimizing the cost of the organizers. To deal with the problem, we adapt mechanism design, which is a part of game theory. Based on the scenario model, we optimize the organizer’s parameter (reward) that minimizes economic and time costs. When the reward parameter is fixed, we obtain a corresponding expected recruitment time. Among the reward and time pair, we choose the pair that minimizes the cost of the organizer. Finally, we compare the optimized results with simulations and analyze them.

Results:

To minimize the cost of the organizer, we collect rewards and expected recruitment time pairs. As reward grows, expected time reduces. When the reward is small, the time cost is high and vice versa. Therefore, the cost forms a U-shape, and we can obtain the minimum point that represents the optimized result. We observe the relationship between time weight and optimized values. Time weight is a parameter in the organizer’s cost, and when the parameter is high, the organizer considers the time cost more than the economic cost. Observation shows that as the time weight increases, the optimized reward increases, and the optimized time decreases.

Conclusions:

In this study, we modeled token economy in healthcare blockchain based on real world scenario. Moreover, we validated and analyzed them, comparing the optimized result with simulation. This study presents an approach to token economy design in healthcare blockchain.