Leverage blockchain to facilitate data capture and encourage positive behaviour

New study examines the role of blockchain-based data capture and crypto-incentives in improving patient outcomes

MMUST, the premier technology and innovation university in Kenya, and Immunify.Life, a transformative and self-sustaining healthcare ecosystem secured by blockchain, have entered into a partnership that will leverage MMUST’s academic and research prowess and the advanced technological infrastructure of Immunify.Life to address the problem of poor patient data collection, patient relapse and misaligned incentives with a specific focus on HIV positive patients in Kenya.

In the innovative new study, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) and Immunify.Life will use blockchain technology to redesign health data capture, transfer and sharing processes as well as treatment incentives to improve health outcomes for HIV-positive patients in Kenya.

This will be a 5-year collaborative effort, with the primary goal of improving patient outcomes and strengthening the performance of the Kenyan healthcare system. By carefully designing clinical trials in different regions across Kenya and addressing key health challenges faced by some of the country’s most vulnerable populations, MMUST and Immunify.Life hope to accurately identify the risk factors, causes and obstacles that HIV patients face when they become infected HIV, receiving treatment, and following their care regimens.

One of the main features of the first trial – which will start in August – will be the use of Immunify.Life’s token reward system to improve treatment adherence in HIV/AIDS patients. All the relevant approvals (specifically from the Institutional Ethics Committee and the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation) have been granted to MMUST to use Immunify.Life’s technology platform for this study.

While Kenya has achieved a number of UNAID’s HIV 2020 targets, the country still has a long way to go, particularly in terms of effective and sustained ART (antiretroviral therapy – the primary treatment for HIV/AIDS). About 70% of adults living with HIV in Kenya access treatment, but treatment coverage for children under 15 is lower at around 60%. In Kakamega County, where the MMUST and Immunify.Life study will be conducted, there are high prevalence, infection and relapse rates for men, women and children, making it the perfect location for a comprehensive, data-intensive study of HIV /AIDS and the socio-economic, political and related challenges that prevent people from receiving the treatments available to them.

Study goals

The main objective of the first study is to examine the effectiveness of incentives and paperless tracking systems on HIV treatment outcomes in the low socio-economic setting of Kakamega County. Other goals of the study include:

• Testing the Effectiveness of Crypto-Based Token Rewards on Adherence to HIV/AIDS Treatment Among Suspected Treatment Failure Patients in Kakamega County;
• Evaluating the Impact of Token Reward Systems on Healthcare Professionals;
• Identify the socio-economic factors that prevent the retention of HIV patients with suspected treatment failure;
• Develop and test an integrated, cloud-based system to improve treatment adherence of HIV/AIDS patients with suspected treatment failure.

The HIV Treatment Outcomes Study is the perfect opportunity for MMUST, Immunify.Life and other official partners and organizations such as Kenyan health policy leaders and strategists to conduct a real-world test of the effectiveness of crypto-based rewards and blockchain-based data capture and sharing on adherence rates for HIV- treatment. The technologies at play have the power to significantly improve treatment adherence and empower patients, communities and entire countries, and this study hopes to prove beyond doubt the benefits of an integrated, blockchain-based approach to tackling some of the world’s most important health challenges.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology is a technology-oriented, innovative university in Kenya. With around 17,000 registered students, the university focuses on international cooperation. It has a partnership with an NGO called Save the Children Fund which staffs 25,000 people in 117 countries.

The Immunify.Life team says their mission is to “transform the landscape of health management and data utilization” by strengthening global health systems and access to health data “via an incentivized data capture tool developed for the Immunify.Life disease registry.” The organization hopes to scale organically by expanding its patient base through collaboration with various government entities, NGOs and donors.