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Cited by 91Blockchain Technology Applications and SecurityBlockchain Technology in Education and LearningElectronic Health Records Systems

Proof-of-familiarity: a privacy-preserved blockchain scheme for collaborative medical decision-making

Open access
Yang, Jinhong, Onik, Md Mehedi Hassan, Lee, Nam-Yong, Ahmed, Mohiuddin, Kim, Chul-Soo·2019·Applied Sciences
DOI 10.3390/app9071370
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Abstract

The current healthcare sector is facing difficulty in satisfying the growing issues, expenses, and heavy regulation of quality treatment. Surely, electronic medical records (EMRs) and protected health information (PHI) are highly sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII). However, the sharing of EMRs, enhances overall treatment quality. A distributed ledger (blockchain) technology, embedded with privacy and security by architecture, provides a transparent application developing platform. Privacy, security, and lack of confidence among stakeholders are the main downsides of extensive medical collaboration. This study, therefore, utilizes the transparency, security, and efficiency of blockchain technology to establish a collaborative medical decision-making scheme. This study considers the experience, skill, and collaborative success rate of four key stakeholders (patient, cured patient, doctor, and insurance company) in the healthcare domain to propose a local reference-based consortium blockchain scheme, and an associated consensus gathering algorithm, proof-of-familiarity (PoF). Stakeholders create a transparent and tenable medical decision to increase the interoperability among collaborators through PoF. A prototype of PoF is tested with multichain 2.0, a blockchain implementing framework. Moreover, the privacy of identities, EMRs, and decisions are preserved by two-layer storage, encryption, and a timestamp storing mechanism. Finally, superiority over existing schemes is identified to improve personal data (PII) privacy and patient-centric outcomes research (PCOR).

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

The paper proposes proof-of-familiarity (PoF), a consortium blockchain consensus scheme for collaborative medical decision-making that stores personally identifiable information off-chain and only hashes/non-identifiable data on-chain. It reports a MultiChain 2.0 prototype and qualitative comparisons, but empirical validation is described as ongoing.

Key findings

  • PoF selects decision-giving entities by an individual familiarity index (IFI): doctors use job experience time and treatment success rate; cured patients use treatment experience time, current condition, and experience of disease; insurance companies use settlement time and cover amount. In the running example, the selected entities D3, Ic1, and Cp2 are reported with maximum IFI of 0.83, 0.85, and 0.90, respectively; Table 4 lists D3 as 0.85, Cp2 as 0.90, and Ic1 as 0.85.
  • Off-chain storage of PII/PPII in local databases, with hashes and NPII stored on-chain, is claimed to reduce block size, avoid a single point of failure, and comply with GDPR erasure requirements. PoF uses no mining award or transaction fee; the only incentive is an increase in IFI.
  • The prototype used MultiChain 2.0 alpha 3 with ten Windows 8 computers, mining diversity set to 0.75, requiring at least 75% agreement. The paper states Bitcoin throughput is 3.3–7 or 7.25 tx/s, while the used multichain blockchain can reach up to 2 million tx/s under its assumptions.
  • Qualitative comparisons claim PoF has low energy consumption, high scalability, immediate finality, lower cost (CAPEX vs. OPEX), and can create a decision within hours versus several months for existing systems.

Methods

  • Design: a consortium blockchain architecture with four node types—patient (P), doctor (D), insurance company (Ic), and cured patient (Cp)—each with a local database, blockchain database, and API. Two algorithms are proposed: selection of final participating entities and selection/storing of the final collaborative medical decision.
  • Data/sample: a running example uses doctors, cured patients, and insurance companies; Table 4 lists D1–D3, Cp1–Cp3, and Ic1–Ic2. The prototype used ten Windows 8 computers (Intel i7-6700, 3.40 GHz, 8 GB RAM) on MultiChain 2.0 alpha 3.
  • Analysis: qualitative/theoretical comparison with existing consensus algorithms and blockchain healthcare schemes, plus a prototype for scalability assessment; no real-time network performance analysis is reported.

Limitations

  • The paper states that PoF does not prioritize among P, D, Ic, and Cp and weighs them equally; identical IFI values among same-type entities are unresolved; economic, psychological, emergency, and context-aware factors are not considered; local database management may be difficult; and only qualitative comparison and a third-party MultiChain prototype were performed, with real-time network behavior and metrics left for future work.
  • Evident from the text: numerical inconsistencies appear, including D3’s IFI reported as 0.83 in the running example versus 0.85 in Table 4, “2 cured patients” in the running-example description versus Cp1–Cp3 in Table 4, and Table 5’s “0.75% diversity rate” versus the stated 75% agreement threshold.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/app9071370

Cites

66 of 66 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 72 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Interpretationreasoning

    The local storing of personal data reduces the overall block size in the blockchain.

    “The local storing of personal data reduces the overall block size in the blockchain.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Premisecitation

    Private and consortium blockchains carry higher personal data privacy because transactions are private to the nodes within the membership.

    “If we notice the privacy row (Table 2), private and consortium blockchain carry higher personal data privacy because transactions are private to the nodes within the membership [41].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [41] Castor, A. (2018, December 10). A (Short) Guide to Blockchain Consensus Protocols. Available online: http//www. coindesk.com/short-guide-blockchain-consensus-protocols.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Premisecitation

    The 'medblock' study failed to provide enough privacy of the patient's identity.

    “Although the study [61] ensured higher security concept, it failed to provide enough privacy of the patient's identity.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [61] Fan, 2018, MedBlock: Efficient and Secure Medical Data Sharing Via Blockchain, J. Med. Syst. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Premisecitation

    Privacy-preserved blockchain architectures are available.

    “On the contrary, privacy-preserved blockchain architectures are also available [28,29].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [28] Zhang, 2018, Fhirchain: Applying blockchain to securely and scalably share clinical data, Comput. Struct. Biotechnol. J. source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [29] Zhang, P., White, J., Schmidt, D.C., and Lenz, G. (arXiv, 2017). Applying software patterns to address interoperability in blockchain-based healthcare apps, arXiv.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Premisecitation

    The GDPR's 'right to be forgotten' conflicts with the basic architecture of blockchain's 'data immutability'.

    “'Right to be forgotten' of GDPR conflicts with the basic architecture of blockchain's 'data immutability'.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [26] Voss, 2017, European union data privacy law reform: General data protection regulation, privacy shield, and the right to delisting, Bus. Lawyer

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [27] (2018, December 21). GDPR-EU. Available online: https://gdpr-info.eu/art-4-gdpr/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 68
  • May combine two claims. 43

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    If D, Ic, and Cp provide an opinion or medical decision, the winner is always selected based on the propositions that longer experience and prior correct decisions predict better decision-making.

    “We explore the above two conjectures to propose that if D, I c , and C p provide an opinion or medical decision, the winner is always selected based on the previous two propositions.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: D, Ic, and Cp involved in a particular occupation or experience for a longer period also have a better decision-making ability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: D, Ic, and Cp already provided a correct decision, also have a higher chance of taking the correct decision in future collaboration.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The proposed study addresses the transaction rate and waiting time issues by reducing the block size and increasing the transaction rate.

    “On the contrary, the proposed study successfully addresses those issues by reducing the block size and increasing the transaction rate.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    The PoF based study responded to all the identified key challenges of collaborative medical decision-making (security concern, lack of trust, scalability concern, lack of exchanged data standard) to propose an efficient collaboration scheme.

    “The PoF based study successfully responded to all the aforementioned issues to propose an efficient collaboration scheme.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    This study proposes a health data privacy preserving blockchain scheme and an associated consensus gathering algorithm, proof of familiarity (PoF).

    “Similarly, this study proposes a health data privacy preserving blockchain scheme and associated consensus gathering algorithm, proof of familiarity (PoF).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationcitation

    Our study ensures both patients and doctors get an equal participation opportunity in the PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system.

    “So, our study ensures both patients and doctors get an equal participation opportunity in the PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationnone given

    IFI is updated according to the performance history of D, Ic, and Cp stored in DB_loc and DB_bc.

    “IFI is updated according to the performance history of D, I c , and C p stored in DB loc and DB bc .”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    This scheme stores medical decisions and identities with an off-chain blockchain to increase confidentiality.

    “This scheme stores medical decisions and identities with an off-chain blockchain to increase confidentiality.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Existing collaborative healthcare decision-making suffers from limitations including multi-dimensional personal data privacy policies imposed by individual institutes, manipulation and distribution of clinical data and patient identities without proper acknowledgment and consent, scalability and management difficulties, use of a centralized architecture with a single point of failure, incompatib­­

    “Existing collaborative healthcare decision-making has the following limitations [14][15][16][17][18][19][21][22][23]]:”
    • Also stated in: § • · plain
      “Usage of centralized architecture with a single point of failure.”
    • Also stated in: § • · plain
      “Incompatibility with institutional and regional regulations in SDM-based medical treatment.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [14][15][16][17][18][19][21][22][23]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisenone given

    Blockchain stores multiple copies of data in physically parted locations, and data integrity can be checked from all available nodes to remove a single point of failure.

    “Decentralized storage: Blockchain stores multiple copies of data in a physically parted location.Data integrity can be checked from all available nodes to remove a single point of failure.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The proposed PoF protects the complete identity of the participants by restricting the access of third parties.

    “In comparison to that, the proposed PoF protects the complete identity of the participants by restricting the access of third parties.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The 'MedRec' study rewarded miners unwanted access to EHR, seriously hampering personal information privacy.

    “The study [64] rewarded miners unwanted access to EHR.Therefore, the study seriously hampered personal information privacy.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [64] Azaria, A., Ekblaw, A., Vieira, T., and Lippman, A. (2016, January 22–24). Medrec: Using blockchain for medical data access and permission management. Proceedings of the International Conference on Open and Big Data (OBD), Vienna, Austria. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    This scheme provides a seamless sharing of decisions among the stakeholders.

    “This scheme provides a seamless sharing of decisions among the stakeholders.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    In PoF, decisions are taken based on the individual's level of expertise, experience, and success rate.

    “In PoF, decisions are taken based on the individual's level of expertise, experience, and success rate.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    Double layer security (private-public key) checking and immutability of information with hash storing increases the security of blockchain over existing technologies.

    “Improved security: Double layer security (private-public key) checking and immutability of information with hash storing increases the security of blockchain over existing technologies.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Personal information is shared among trusted private nodes only, and in case of any blockchain failure, personal information is leaked within the group.

    “Personal information is shared among trusted private nodes only.In case of any blockchain failure, personal information is leaked within the group.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Premisenone given

    Presently, patients collaborate with entities one at a time, and this type of collaboration costs time, money, and the privacy of users.

    “Presently, patients collaborate (Collaborations1-4) with entities one at a time (TimesA1-A5).This type of collaboration costs time, money, and the privacy of users (Figure 1).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Blockchain can be a rational solution to address the risks of shared medical decision-making.

    “To address the risks of shared medical decision-making, blockchain can be a rational solution”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The proposed system stores PII and PPII in an erasable local database (DB_loc) of P, D, Ic, and Cp, while NPII and the hash of locally stored PII and PPII are stored in an immutable blockchain database (DB_bc).

    “So, the proposed system stores PII and PPII in an erasable DB loc of P, D, I c , and C p .On the contrary, NPII and the hash of locally stored PII and PPII are stored in an immutable DB bc .”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Blockchain can digitally authenticate transaction regulations and nodes, removing the need for a trusted third party and largely reducing the settlement cost.

    “Trusted transaction: Blockchain can digitally authenticate transaction regulations and nodes.”
    • Also stated in: § 2.1. Blockchain · plain
      “Finally, the necessity of a trusted third party is useless.This largely reduces the settlement cost.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The study fully complies with existing privacy regulations regarding PII.

    “Hence, the study fully complies with existing privacy regulations regarding PII.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Blockchain technology can create a transparent network for healthcare stakeholders (insurance company, cured patient, doctor) and can host stakeholders concurrently on a single platform without a trusted third party.

    “This distributed technology can create a transparent network for healthcare stakeholders (i.e., insurance company, cured patient, doctor).Concurrent hosting of stakeholders in a single platform is also possible without a trusted third party.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [25] Miraz, M.H., and Ali, M. (arXiv, 2018). Applications of Blockchain Technology beyond Cryptocurrency, arXiv. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF is the first consensus algorithm that reflects the doctor's skill, cured patient's feedback, insurance company's policy, and blockchain's security concurrently in decision making.

    “PoF, the first consensus algorithm so far, reflects the doctor's skill, cured patient's feedback, insurance company's policy, and blockchain's security concurrently in decision making.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    PoF enables simultaneous collaboration (Collaboration 1 to Collaboration 2) to save time, money, and privacy of users.

    “PoF enables simultaneous (Time A1 ) collaboration (Collaboration 1 to Collaboration 2 ) (Figure 3) to save time, money, and privacy of users.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF exposes user identity to the consortium chain, which ensures easy identification of the corrupted node.

    “On the contrary, this study (PoF) exposes user identity to the consortium chain.This ensures easy identification of the corrupted node.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Since the proposed blockchain stores identities of P, Cp, D, and Ic in a well-secured manner, no nonce is used in PoF.

    “Since the proposed blockchain stores identities of P, C p , D, and I c in a well-secured manner, no nonce is used in PoF.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    PoS encourages the owner of the coin to prolong the coin holding time, so it also experiences a slightly higher transmission time.

    “Alternatively, PoS encourages the owner of the coin to prolong the coin holding time [83], so it also experiences a slightly higher transmission time.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [83] Mingxiao, D., Xiaofeng, M., Zhe, Z., Xiangwei, W., and Qijun, C. (2017, January 5–8). A review on consensus algorithm of blockchain. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), Banff, AB, Canada. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF does not allow any mining award or transaction fee.

    “PoF does not allow any mining award or transaction fee.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Blockchain stores data securely in multiple physical locations, thus no single point of failure presents.

    “Blockchain stores data securely in multiple physical locations, thus no single point of failure presents.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    P, D, Ic, and Cp have full control over their decisions, sensitive information (PII, PPII), and identities.

    “P, D, I c , and C p also have full control over their decisions, sensitive information (PII, PPII), and identities.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    The proposed PoF based collaborative demands 75% agreement, which is also changeable.

    “On the other hand, the proposed PoF based collaborative demands 75% agreement (which is also changeable).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    As the proposed scheme allows patients to seek opinions from several healthcare stakeholders before making a medical decision, this upgrades the overall standard of treatment many times.

    “As the proposed scheme allows patients to seek opinions from several healthcare stakeholders before making a medical decision, this upgrades the overall standard of treatment many times.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    If modification happens to block 0, the header of block 1 will no longer point to the header of block 0, and the corrupted block is disconnected from the rest of the blockchain.

    “If modification happens to block 0, the header of block 1 will no longer point to the header of block 0. This corrupted block is disconnected from the rest of the block (blockchain).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Use of consortium blockchain rises the system scalability.

    “In addition, use of consortium blockchain rises the system scalability.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Based on the IFI values of D, Ic, and Cp, a winner is chosen from each entity, and after combining the three winners' decisions, the final collaborative medical decision C_d is decided for P.

    “Based on the IFI value (IFI_I c , IFI_C p , and IFI_D) of three entities, a winner is chosen from each of the entities (D, I c , and C p ).After combining three winner's decisions, C d is decided for P.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The only incentive D, Ic, and Cp achieve is an increase of IFI if the patient receives a successful decision through PoF.

    “The only incentive D, I c , and C p achieve is uprise of IFI if the patient receives a successful decision through PoF.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Before data are stored in the cloud-based blockchain, hashes are stored in local databases, and a digital signature by a decision giving entity ensures data integrity.

    “In addition to that, before data are stored in the cloud-based blockchain, hashes are stored in local databases.At the same time, a digital signature by a decision giving entity also ensures data integrity.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    The architecture stores hashes of the locally stored personal information in the blockchain, and those hashes are shared with all decision-making entities.

    “This architecture stores hashes of the locally stored personal information in the blockchain.Those hashes of locally stored personal information are shared with all decision-making entities.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    If a node attempts to modify a block illicitly, the consensus from all legitimate nodes can demolish the attack.

    “If a node (attacker) attempts to modify a block illicitly, the consensus from all legitimate nodes can demolish the attack.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Identifying secret keys (private key) is difficult; a hacker must guess a 256-bit sequence number, i.e., 2^256 probable numbers.

    “A hacker must guess a 256-bit sequence number, in other words, 2 256 probable numbers to achieve that secret key.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Ripple needs to wait till 80% are in agreement, and it also needs a higher transaction time.

    “Similarly, Ripple needs to wait till 80% are in agreement, and it also needs a higher transaction time [82].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [82] Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H., Chen, X., and Wang, H. (2017, January 25–30). An overview of blockchain technology: Architecture, consensus, and future trends. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Congress on Big Data (BigData Congress), Honolulu, HI, USA. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    PoF based medical decision achieving scheme is distributed in nature while a centralized system is used by other schemes.

    “PoF based medical decision achieving scheme is distributed in nature while a centralized system is used by other schemes [2,3].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [2] Dowell, J., Williams, B., and Snadden, D. (2018). Patient-Centered Prescribing: Seeking Concordance in Practice, CRC Press. source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] (1982). Making Health Care Decisions, President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Report.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    P, D, Ic, and Cp never share their private keys.

    “P, D, I c , and C p never share their private keys.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Compared to PoW, PoS consensus gathering algorithm requires less energy but is still high.

    “Compared to PoW, PoS consensus gathering algorithm requires less energy but is still high [82].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [82] Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H., Chen, X., and Wang, H. (2017, January 25–30). An overview of blockchain technology: Architecture, consensus, and future trends. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Congress on Big Data (BigData Congress), Honolulu, HI, USA. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Multichain does not restrict block size and time; block size can be set up to 1 GB and block time to 2 s.

    “On the contrary, multichain does not restrict block size and time.Therefore, we can even set block size up 1 GB, and block time to 2 s.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [79] (2019, March 14). About Throughput Performance—MultiChain Developer Q & A. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/qa/5556/about-throughput-performance.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Since sensitive information and non-sensitive data are separated before data sharing, there is no chance of medical data leaking in PoF.

    “Since sensitive information and non-sensitive data are separated before data sharing, there is no chance of medical data leaking in PoF.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    Decentralized architecture helps to retrieve lost information or corrupted information from leftover nodes.

    “Similarly, decentralized architecture helps to retrieve lost information or corrupted information from leftover nodes.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Hashes of locally stored PII and PPII are stored in the blockchain and used for verification, so change in blockchain or local databases is easily tracked to retrieve the originality of the data.

    “Hashes of the locally stored PII and PPII are stored in the blockchain.Those immutable hashes inside blocks are used for verification.As a result, change in blockchain or even local databases is easily tracked to retrieve the originality of the data [32].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [32] (2018, May 15). Blockchain: Technology Fundamentals of the Trust Machine. Available online: https://www.legalanalytics.law.cuhk.edu.hk/single-post/2017/12/23/Blockchain-Technology-Fundamentals-of-the-Trust-Machine.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The cost of PoF is CAPEX (capital expenditure), whereas it is OPEX (operational expenditure) for the existing system.

    “Moreover, the cost of PoF is CAPEX (capital expenditure), whereas it is OPEX (operational expenditure) for the existing system [77].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [77] Youssef, 2011, Translucent network design from a CapEx/OpEx perspective, Photonic Netw. Commun. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In bitcoin, block size is 1 MB and average block time is 10 min.

    “For example, in bitcoin block size is 1 MB and the average block time is 10 min.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [41] Castor, A. (2018, December 10). A (Short) Guide to Blockchain Consensus Protocols. Available online: http//www. coindesk.com/short-guide-blockchain-consensus-protocols.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [42] (2019, January 10). The Global Fintech Report. Available online: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/assets/pwc-global-fintech-report-2017.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    In PoF every data stored in the cloud (blockchain) are encrypted with private-public keys, and those keys are accessible only by the patients.

    “In PoF every data stored in the cloud (blockchain) are encrypted with private-public keys.Those keys are accessible only by the patients.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    As medical collaboration is not meant for a large group, proposed consortium blockchain can accommodate adequate participating entities.

    “As medical collaboration is not meant for a large group, proposed consortium blockchain can accommodate adequate participating entities.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Medical collaboration is not meant for a large group.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    An attacker needs to control over 51% (more than half) of the stakes to control over the blockchain.

    “Similarly, an attacker needs to control over 51% (more than half) of the stakes to control over the blockchain [84].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [84] Bach, L.M., Mihaljevic, B., and Zagar, M. (2018, January 21–25). Comparative analysis of blockchain consensus algorithms. Proceedings of the 2018 41st International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics (MIPRO), Opatija, Croatia. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    While preserving the identity of stakeholders, PoF follows a two-layer security measure: identities of patients, doctors, cured patients, and insurance companies are locally stored, and the hash of those are stored in a block.

    “While preserving the identity of stakeholders, PoF follows a two-layer security measure.Firstly, the identities of patients, doctors, cured patients, and insurance companies are locally stored, and secondly, the hash of those are stored in a block.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    PoF ensures the integrity of a collective medical decision and privacy of stakeholders by storing previously stored decisions and identities by blockchain.

    “PoF ensures the integrity of a collective medical decision and privacy of stakeholders by storing previously stored decisions and identities by blockchain.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    A PoF based collaborative scheme successfully mitigates ongoing issues of collaborative medical decision-making by using blockchain technology.

    “Additionally, a PoF based collaborative scheme successfully mitigates ongoing issues of collaborative medical decision-making by using blockchain technology.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system allows trusted participation of significant medical decision-giving entities to provide a better clinical decision.

    “PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system allows trusted participation of significant medical decision-giving entities to provide a better clinical decision.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, the hash of the data and data size are published to the network.

    “Hash of the data and data size are published to the network.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The proposed PoF restricts adversary tolerated power to 75%; at least 75% of the participated entities must agree to take control of a chain.

    “In comparison to those, the proposed PoF restricts adversary tolerated power to 75%.That is, at least 75% of the participated entities must agree to take control of a chain [72].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Study design and conductnone given

    Management of a local database for each participating entity (P, D, Ic, and Cp) can be difficult.

    “Alternatively, management of a local database for each participating entity (P, D, I c , and C p ) can be difficult.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system uses modified blockchain architecture (off-the-chain) to secure clinical data privacy and security.

    “PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system uses modified blockchain architecture (off-the-chain) to secure clinical data privacy and security.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Blockchain technology faces scalability issues during real-life deployment.

    “Blockchain technology faces scalability issues during real-life deployment [52].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [52] Onik, M.M.H., and Ahmed, M. (2018). Blockchain in the Era of Industry 4.0. Data Analytics, CRC Press.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    No reward is introduced in the PoF consensus algorithm; as IFI depends on individual achievement, no unwanted money and energy are spent on mining and computing.

    “Last but not least, no reward is introduced in the PoF consensus algorithm.As IFI totally depends on the individual's achievement, no unwanted money and energy are spent on mining and computing.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning

    This rapid transaction among peers increases the chance of commercial deployment of PoF based on collaborative medical decision-making.

    “This rapid transaction among peers increases the chance of commercial deployment of PoF based on collaborative medical decision-making.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 uses both blockchain and local storage.

    “Multichain 2.0 uses both blockchain and local storage.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 is globally acknowledged and facilitates off-chain blockchain implementation.

    “The reason for choosing MultiChain 2.0 is its global acknowledgement that facilitates off-chain blockchain implementation [73][74][75].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [73][74][75]

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductnone given

    MultiChain 2.0 (alpha 3) was used to develop the prototype for assessing the scalability of the PoF consensus algorithm.

    “MultiChain 2.0 (alpha 3) [71,72], an open source blockchain implementation platform, was used to develop the prototype for assessing the scalability of the PoF consensus algorithm.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Because of this limitation, this study only includes theoretical comparison with existing platforms.

    “Because of this limitation, this study only includes theoretical comparison with existing platforms.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The proposed system (PoF) consumes less energy, as no reward system is available on work.

    “Alternatively, the proposed system (PoF) consumes less energy, as no reward system is available on work.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    The qualitative performance of PoF is compared with the existing collaborative medical decision-making system, and theoretical comparison identifies PoF as an efficient use of blockchain in healthcare.

    “Moreover, the qualitative performance of PoF is compared with the existing collaborative medical decision-making system, and theoretical comparison identifies PoF as an efficient use of blockchain in healthcare.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Proposed PoF based blockchain technology is designed with the best possible scalability.

    “Proposed PoF based blockchain technology is designed with the best possible scalability.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system provides middlemen with a less decentralized medical decision collaboration platform with no single point of failure.

    “PoF based collaborative medical decision-making system provides middlemen with a less decentralized medical decision collaboration platform with no single point of failure.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    One of the major limitations of this study was that it only provided a qualitative comparison among the proposed study and existing studies.

    “One of the major limitations of this study was that it only provided a qualitative comparison among the proposed study and existing studies.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductnone given

    Emergency and context-aware decision assessment are not considered at this moment.

    “Emergency and context-aware decision assessment are not considered at this moment.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, individual nodes write data in local storage.

    “Individual node writes data in local storage.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 solves the problems of mining, privacy, and openness via integrated management of user permissions.

    “Unlike any other blockchain architectures, MultiChain 2.0 solves the problems of mining, privacy, and openness via integrated management of user permissions, thereby three folding the core aims:”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, after consensus, the hash of locally stored off-chain data and insensitive information are stored in blockchain as a new block without any associated costs.

    “After agreement from the network (consensus), the hash of locally stored off-chain data and insensitive information are stored in blockchain as a new block without any associated costs.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given

    The off-the-chain data storing used in this study reduced block size and transaction delay.

    “The off-the-chain data storing used in this study reduced block size and transaction delay.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisecitation

    Real-world business demands immediate finality, as no one wants to take the risk of losing assets during the waiting time.

    “However, real-world business also demands immediate finality, as no one wants to take the risk of losing assets during the waiting time [82,84].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [82] Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H., Chen, X., and Wang, H. (2017, January 25–30). An overview of blockchain technology: Architecture, consensus, and future trends. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Congress on Big Data (BigData Congress), Honolulu, HI, USA. source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [84] Bach, L.M., Mihaljevic, B., and Zagar, M. (2018, January 21–25). Comparative analysis of blockchain consensus algorithms. Proceedings of the 2018 41st International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics (MIPRO), Opatija, Croatia. source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premiseown data

    The purpose of the Proof of Familiarity scheme is decision-making.

    “| Purpose of use | | Data | Data | No | Drug supply | Data | Decision-making |”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, addition of a new block finishes the blockchain transaction procedure.

    “Addition of a new block finishes the blockchain transaction procedure.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisenone given

    The Proof of Familiarity scheme tolerates adversary power of 0.75% diversity rate.

    “| Adversary tolerated Power | 0.75% diversity rate | < = 25% Computing Power | < 51% stake | < 33% Voting power | < 20% faulty nodes in UNL | < 33.3% Voting power |”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, the maximum block size is under the participant's control, which solves block size monitoring issues.

    “The maximum block size is under the participant's control, it solves block size monitoring issues.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, to ensure privacy, blockchain's activities are visible to chosen participants only.

    “To ensure privacy blockchain's activities are visible to chosen participants only.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premiseown data

    The Proof of Familiarity scheme has low implementation cost.

    “| Implementation cost | High | High | High | Medium | Low | Low |”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 enables mining to take place securely without proof of work and its associated costs.

    “To enable mining to take place securely without proof of work and its associated costs.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 provides a comprehensive JSON-RPC API for easy integration with the systems.

    “Provides a comprehensive JSON-RPC (Remote Procedure Call) application programming interface (API) for easy integration with the systems.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisereasoning

    As a closed (consortium) system, MultiChain 2.0 considers decision only from interested participants.

    “As this is a closed (consortium) system, it considers decision only from interested participants.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    MultiChain 2.0 facilitates privacy preservation and control over data with an easy to configure and deploy package by supporting both UNIX and Windows system.

    “Facilitates privacy preservation and control over data with an easy to configure and deploy package by supporting both UNIX and Windows system.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premiseown data

    The Proof of Familiarity scheme has permissioned open node management.

    “| Node management | Permissioned Open | Both | Permissioned Open | Permissioned | | |”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    In MultiChain 2.0, users are permitted to configure configuration parameters.

    “In MultiChain 2.0, users are permitted to configure configuration parameters.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [71] Greenspan, G. (2018, May 10). MultiChain Private Blockchain—White Paper. Available online: http//www. multichain.com/download/MultiChain-White-Paper.pdf.

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [72] Greenspan, G. (2019, January 01). Off-Chain (Alpha 3) Multichain 2.0. Available online: https://www.multichain.com/blog/2018/06/scaling-blockchains-off-chain-data/.

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premiseown data

    The Proof of Familiarity scheme uses off-chain data.

    “| Off-chain data | | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
91 of 91

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    All nodes in the PoF based scheme are located within a consortium blockchain network and connected via the internet.

    “In PoF based scheme, all nodes are assumed to be located within a consortium blockchain network and connected via the internet.”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    D, Ic, and Cp involved in a particular occupation or experience for a longer period also have a better decision-making ability.

    “We firstly posit that D, I c , and C p involved in a particular occupation or experience for a longer period also have a better decision-making ability.”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    D, Ic, and Cp already provided a correct decision, also have a higher chance of taking the correct decision in future collaboration.

    “We secondly posit that D, I c , and C p already provided a correct decision, also have a higher chance of taking the correct decision in future collaboration.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    On average, existing systems spend several months to make an accurate medical decision.

    “On average, existing systems spend several months to make an accurate medical decision.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Medical collaboration is not meant for a large group.

    “As medical collaboration is not meant for a large group, proposed consortium blockchain can accommodate adequate participating entities.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The decision judging factors (JET, TSR, TET, CC, ED, ST, CA) are appropriate and sufficient for calculating individual familiarity index.

    “Individual familiarity index (IFI) of participating entities (IFI_C p , IFI_D, IFI_I c ) are calculated by summing up entity wise decision judging factors (J ET , T SR , T ET , C C , E D , S T , C A ).”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Selecting entities with maximum IFI leads to the best final collaborative medical decision.

    “Out of all participating entities (C p , D, I c ), entities with maximum individual familiarity (IFI_C p , IFI_D, IFI_I c ) are selected as finally selected participating entities (C p_FS , D FS , I c_FS ).”
7 of 7

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Failing to prioritize inherently associated entities may cause conflicts, especially in emergency decision-making.

    “Complications may also arise as a result of failing to prioritize inherently associated entities, leading to conflicts-especially in the case of decision-making during emergencies (Yang et al., 2019).”

    From Blockchain in healthcare: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda (2020) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2019

    Section 4.3.1 says the scheme does not prioritize decision-making entities, and Section 4.3.2 says equal weighting of evaluation factors within an entity might cause conflict. Section 4.3.3 says emergency decision assessment is not considered, but it does not link emergencies to conflicts caused by failing to prioritize entities. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Significant attention has been paid to developing new proofs and algorithms for blockchain in healthcare, such as proof of primitiveness of data, proof of familiarity, and simplified workload for proof of work.

    “The results of the review show that significant attention has been paid to developing new proofs and algorithms, e.g.proof of primitiveness of data (H.Li et al., 2018;Z. Li et al., 2018), proof of familiarity (Yang et al., 2019), and simplified workload for proof of work (Lee & Yang, 2018).”

    From Blockchain in healthcare: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda (2020) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2019

  • Majority of research in this domain has focused on enhancing the performance of developed systems and architectures through technical improvements.

    “Majority of research in this domain has focused on enhancing the performance of developed systems and architectures through technical improvements, such as unknown root exploitation detection (Firdaus et al., 2018), use of smaller data block sizes (Yang et al., 2019), and improvement of transaction propagation delay (Rahmadika & Rhee, 2019).”

    From Blockchain in healthcare: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda (2020) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2019

  • Yang et al.'s Proof of Familiarity consensus mechanism for eHealth blockchain has not had a prototype implemented to study feasibility.

    “The shortcoming of the paper is that prototype is yet to be implemented to study the feasibility of the proposed consensus mechanism.”

    From A survey on the adoption of blockchain in IoT: challenges and solutions (2021) · cites this paper as [201]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • 2017 breach total does not match its categories

    Minor

    The four 2017 category counts sum to 359, not the reported total of 259.

    Reported 259 · recomputed 359

  • 2016 breach total does not match its categories

    Minor

    The four 2016 category counts sum to 327, not the reported total of 237.

    Reported 237 · recomputed 327

  • Patient's decision is said to carry equal weight but is absent from aggregation

    Minor

    The limitations section says PoF emphasizes P's decision equally with those of the other three entities. Algorithm 2 constructs the final decision only from the cured patient's, doctor's, and insurance company's decisions.

  • PoF diversity is reported as both 0.75% and 75%

    Minor

    Table 5 reports a 0.75% diversity rate for PoF, while the implementation description sets mining diversity to 0.75 out of 1, or 75%.

  • Running example counts two cured patients but uses three

    Minor

    The introduction to the running example says it considers two cured patients, but its participant list includes Cp1, Cp2, and Cp3.

  • Flag 4 is assigned to the Flag 3 field

    Minor

    The block description assigns the cured patient's Flag 4 information to the same field it assigns to the insurance company's Flag 3 information.

  • Doctor D3 has two reported familiarity indexes

    Minor

    The running example gives D3 an IFI of 0.83, while Table 4 gives D3 an IFI of 0.85.

7 of 7

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Chaudhry, J., Qidwai, U., Miraz, M.H., Ibrahim, A., and Valli, C. (2017). Data Security among ISO/IEEE 11073 Compliant Personal Healthcare Devices through Statistical Fingerprinting, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  2. Voss, 2017, European union data privacy law reform: General data protection regulation, privacy shield, and the right to delisting, Bus. Lawyer, 72, 221
  3. Chuen, D.L.E.E.K., and Deng, R.H. (2017). Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, Regulation, ChinaTech, Mobile Security, and Distributed Ledger, Academic Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Yang, J., Onik, M. M. H., Lee, N.-Y., Ahmed, M., & Kim, C.-S.
Affiliations
  • Inje University (KR)
  • Edith Cowan University (AU)
Corresponding author
Yang, Jinhong
ORCID
Venue
Applied Sciences
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2019-04-01
Volume
9
Issue
7
Pages
1370
ISSN
2076-3417 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/app9071370
OpenAlex
W2928656906
Cited by
91
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6
FWCI
15.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Applied Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Australasian Journal of Paramedicine (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Online (Edith Cowan University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Institute for Information and communications Technology Promotion (2018-0-00261)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Blockchain Technology in Education and Learning
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Electronic Health Records Systems
Keywords
blockchain, privacy-preserving healthcare, electronic health records, protected health information, consortium blockchain, consensus algorithms, clinical decision-making, stakeholder collaboration, personal data privacy, interoperability, encryption, timestamping, Multichain

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-09.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-09.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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