Increase Patients’ Survivability During Emergency Care Using Blockchain-Based Digital Twin Technology

Effective communication of patient clinical and care information between pre-hospital services and Emergency Departments (EDs) is crucial for the rapid and effective treatment of patients, potentially saving lives. Recent research indicates a frequent lack of patient data metrics, such as vital signs, which represents a potential limitation in the comprehensiveness of handoffs received by ED physicians from pre-hospital providers. To address this challenge, we propose a solution that utilizes a patient's digital twin and permissioned blockchain technology to ensure complete, real-time, secure, and shareable access to patients' vital signs and other data metrics for Emergency Departments. This solution seeks to answer the following questions: Which data model for the digital twin best represents the patient during transport, meeting the requirements of the receiving facility? How can patient digital twin data, including the history of clinical information and patient care, be shared in real-time with the receiving facility? How can EHR-compliant digital twin data be produced to satisfy the reconciliation between the Patient Digital Twin (PDT) and the Electronic Health Record (EHR)? Method: We conducted a comprehensive literature review and a series of interviews with both pre-hospital and hospital care providers to identify the problem and develop a model based on it. To address the second question, we designed an architecture that includes all parties in the care team, during and after the transport. For the third question, we explored NEMSIS data exchange standards and a Natural Language Processing (NLP) Module. Objective: Our goal is to improve the survivability of patients in emergency care through secure, effective, and real-time sharing of patient metric data between Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Departments or Trauma Centers. This approach also aims to reduce the waiting time for patients upon arrival at the receiving facility.