Medical Students’ Perceptions of a Blockchain-Based Decentralized Work History and Credentials Portfolio: Qualitative Feasibility Study

Abstract

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Increased digitization of healthcare might challenge some of the trust functions that are established in a traditional healthcare system. We have with the concept of VerfiyMed developed a decentralized service for work-history and competence verification, as means to increase trust in the virtual interaction between a patient and caregiver, mitigate administrative burden, and providing patient-reported outcome seamlessly for health professionals. This research aims to validate this usecase of this service in Norway. Secondly, we aim to evaluate the proof-of-concept of VerifyMed, a blockchain-based credential service for healthcare professionals. Objective: This research aims to validate the use-case of a decentralized credentials service for healthcare professionals in Norway. Secondly, we aim to evaluate the proof-of-concept of VerifyMed, a blockchain-based credential service for healthcare professionals. Methods: A qualitative approach was applied with data collection through nine semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with four and five participants respectively. The System Usability Scale (SUS) was used as a part of the interviews. Data were analyzed through the principles of systematic text condensation. The recruitment of participants ended when it was concluded that the data had reached saturation. Results: Five themes were identified from the interviews and the focus groups; (1) The need for aggregated storage of work- and study-related verification, (2) Trust in a virtual healthcare environment, (3) The potential use of patient feedback, (4) Trust in blockchain technology and (5) Improvements of the VerifyMed concept. The SUS questionnaire gave a score of 69,7. Conclusions: This study has validated the need for a decentralized system where healthcare professionals can control their credentials and, potentially, their reputation. Future work should update the VerifyMed system according to this input. Conclusion: We concluded that a decentralized system for the storage of work-related, verifiable credentials could increase trust in a virtualized healthcare system.