Eleven research projects are sharing slightly more than $700,000 through the Jump ARCHES research development program which is a partnership between OSF HealthCare, University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria (UICOMP), and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
It’s a challenge to get people to follow medical advice such as exercising and taking medications as prescribed. Consumers using the blockchain-based rewards app could be rewarded quickly for exercising, taking medications, or for any number of other healthy behaviors
However, federal consumer protection regulations currently prohibit health systems from offering rewards for healthy behaviors because they are viewed as an inducement to use a product or service.
Partnering with UIUC and UICOMP, OSF researchers plan to develop and test an integrated application that uses blockchain technology as a basis for information from de-identified participants to be matched with rewards when health behavior data is generated.
As for patients and providers, even non-OSF Health Systems may eventually use the app, and as a result, a better approach would support patients with chronic conditions outside of their regular in office contact. Future enhancements could also use data from wearables or in-home monitors.
Researchers also believe incentives could be extended to other public health initiatives, such as community vaccination rates or health screenings, plus any health behavior that can be proven to have value in the population or an individual’s health and wellness.
Jump ARCHES is a partnership with the University of Illinois Grainger HealthCare Engineering System Center (HCESC).
Go to https://osfhealthcare.org/innovation/how/academic-incubator/jump-arches for more information on Jump Applied Research for Community Health through Engineering and Simulation. (Jump ARCHES).