Welcome and Opening Statements

• A reminder to all HC-SIG members that this meeting is being recorded
  • Videoconferencing/teleconferencing connect details are available here
    
    

• Reading of the Linux Foundation Antitrust Policy

  • Hyperledger Antitrust Slide

Widget Connector
url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw2ER_qAEI8&list=PL0MZ85B_96CFL_JrgiNL71-riq9j2dkmw&index=58

In attendance:

• Rich Bloch (host)
• Anesu Machoko
• Adrian Gropper
• Alicia P
• Anik JainArchana Sristy
• Brajesh Awasthi
• Brian Behlendorf
• Debbie Bucci
• Deniz Coskun
• Dr. Jonathan Holt (ConsenSys Health)
• Erika Beerbower
• Fernando Latorre
• Indira
• jeff
• Jim Mason
• jm
• Kamlesh Nagware
• Kumaravel N
• m novak
• Mark Treshock (IBM)
• Pete Harris
• Tomomi Yamano
• Wendy Charles

Introductions

• If you’re new to the group, please…

  • Introduce yourself

  • Tell us where you're geographically located

  • Share with us your interests in healthcare in general, and blockchain technologies in specific

  • Consider posting your contact information in our HC-SIG Membership Directory
  • Questions? Review our HC-SIG FAQ for answers

Community Announcements

• Student application is open for this year's Hyperledger Mentorship Program

  • Additional details here

  • We would love to receive lots of applications from our own academic members and hopefully their students get selected to work on some of these projects this year

  • Application deadline: APR 24 (2020.04.24)
    
    
• A special notice from our HC-SIG Payer Subgroup
  • The HC-SIG Payer Subgroup is kicking off their Pharmacy PoC starting next week
    • The workshop effort will utilize Hyperledger Fabric and Joget's low-code platform to develop this PoC

• Do you have any announcements that you'd like to share with the HC-SIG community?

  • Feel free to make an announcement here, on our Rocket.Chat channel, or via our email listserv

HC-SIG Subgroup Updates

• Patient/Member Subgroup (Deniz Coskun, Lead)

• Payer Subgroup (Raveesh Dewan, Lead)

• Healthcare Interoperability Subgroup (Steven Elliott, Lead)

HC-SIG Ad Hoc Team Updates

Wiki Redesign Team (Rich Bloch, Lead)

Old Business

• Healthcare Funding Opportunities
  

  • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

    • Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
    • Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
  • National Institute of Health (NIH)
    • SBIRs/STTRs and grant funding
  • UNICEF Innovation Fund
    • Designed for small business start-ups
    • UNICEF Blockchain Programme details

• 2020 HC-SIG Membership Survey Results
  • Majority of respondents are in healthcare, and work in software development/engineering
  • Participating in the HC-SIG to learn more about blockchain technologies in healthcare, and also business networking
  • Most familiar with blockchain technologies for 3-5 years
  • Half of respondents from North America, followed by Europe and then Asia
  • Primarily interested in Fabric, Indy, and Sawtooth development
  • Interoperability, clinical data exchange, and the management of personally identifiable information (PII) the primary focus of interest
    • Through the implementation of self-sovereign identity (SSI) and smart contracts
  • Focus of effort on the provider, patient, and then government/regulatory spaces
  • About 3/4 of respondents would be okay if future presentation topics were not directly related to Hyperledger (more interested in the broader use of any blockchain technologies in healthcare)
    • Such topics to include:
      • Smart contract tech, e.g., DAML and PACT, and public blockchain technologies
      • BurstIQ, Remedichain, IBM Blockchain platforms
  • Miscellaneous comments:
    • Congratulations and keep going with this efforts!!!
    • This is a great community and I have learned more since I found this group than my own efforts surfing into the www, congratulations and hope some day I’ll have the same knowledge and experience like the rest of the participants here to contribute more at the discussions
    • Great job... Thanks!
    • Great work!
    • Richard Bloch is the best facilitator that you could ever hope to have. He is absolutely outstanding in his efforts to include people in discussions and managing discussions in the best interests of time and respect. He's amazing.
      • Rich responds: "aw... shucks!"

• Discussion topic: COVID-19
  • How can blockchain technologies have a positive impact on the identification and prevention of this pandemic?
    • Recent US government spending package (proposed as of this writing) for COVID-19 to include the following:
      • $500 million for an emergency telehealth waiver. The bill would waive certain Medicare restrictions for telehealth, including that a Medicare beneficiary can use telehealth services even if they aren’t in a rural community. “This provision would also allow beneficiaries to receive care from physicians and other practitioners in their homes,” a summary of the package said
      • $2.2 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help state and local health agencies. The funding would include a provision to reimburse state or local costs for corona virus response and preparedness activities from Jan. 20 to the end of this supplemental
      • Nearly $1 billion to buy drugs and medical supplies. This procurement will include $500 million for drugs, masks and personal protective equipment that can be distributed to state and local health agencies in areas that are in shortage. It also includes funding for increasing the supply of biocontainment beds, which are secured areas used for patients with highly contagious diseases
      • More than $3 billion to support the research and development of vaccines, diagnostics and other treatments for the corona virus. Any vaccine or diagnostic developed via taxpayer funds must also “be available for purchase by the federal government at a fair and reasonable price,” the summary said. The bill also enables the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure any vaccine or diagnostic can be affordable in the commercial market, but doesn’t elaborate on how.

New Business

Open Discussions (Rich)

Special Topic: Conquering the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic

Image Added

How can blockchain technologies have a positive impact on the identification, prevention, and management of this pandemic?

• How might innovative blockchain technologies--including DLTs, SSI, and cryptocurrencies/tokens--solutions help to:
  • Slow the progression of this deadly virus
  • Manage life-saving logistics networks and medical supply chains with improved throughput and efficiencies
  • Serve as a means for more timely and more accurate healthcare communications model across communities, states, provinces, and countries

Special Guest Speakers

• Mark Treshock, Global Blockchain Solutions Leader for Healthcare and Life Sciences at IBM
  • Mark will present on some of recent initiatives that IBM has been driving as it relates to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. 
  • Details of IBM's Rapid Supplier Connect solution here

• Anesu Machoko, CEO & Co-Founder of MetaDigitaI
  • A description of the work that Anesu and his team are doing with self-sovereign identity (SSI) in the healthcare industry, and how their solutions might be used to help manage secure exchanges between patient, provider, and pharmacy during and after this COVID-19 virus pandemic
    • Anesu and his team will be presenting more formally at an upcoming HC-SIG General Meeting, and we thank him for offering to help drive today's very timely and important discussion around the COVID-19 virus pandemic

• Heather Flannery, Founder and CEO of ConsenSys Health
  • Heather will present information related to their recently-launched STOP COVID-19 Ethereum Hackathon, running now through MAY 11. Our own Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director for the Hyperledger Project, will be serving as one of the judges for this event.

Status and Funding/Support from Around the World

• Global

  • Grant Opportunities Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. GrantStation is now offering a filtering service for globally-available COVID-19 virus grants for non-profits and small businesses.

• Canada
• Canadian 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Rapid Research Funding Opportunity. UPDATE: On March 31, 2020, through a contribution from Research Manitoba, Research Nova Scotia, and Alberta Innovates, CIHR was able to fund an additional three grants, bringing the total number of funded grants to 99 and a total investment of $54.2M.

Status and Funding/Support in the US

• Brigham and Women's Emergency Department
  • On MAR 17, Open Call for Solutions issued. UPDATE: this call is now closed. Brigham and Women's Emergency Department is calling for text based platforms to help healthcare professionals (clinicians, receptionists, technicians, and others) monitor symptoms of coronavirus, report burnout, and access helpful resources. The tool would be used by clinicians, receptionists, technicians and others in the healthcare field. If selected, it would roll out in the Brigham Emergency Department first.
    
    
• National Cancer Institute (NCI) Funding Opportunities for Small Businesses (SBIRs/STTRs). Updated MAR 27. The NCI participates in the NIH-issued SBIR and an STTR Omnibus grant solicitation for small businesses, which allow small businesses to submit researcher-initiated projects that are within NIH’s mission. 
   
• National Institute of Health (NIH) Funding Opportunities. Updated MAR 26. Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional) recently updated through "Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Availability of Administrative Supplements and Revision Supplements on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)." Additional details available here.
  
  

• NEW: COVID Help for Families. A match-making service for for those offering help and those seeking help during this pandemic. Help Seekers can post urgent needs for Helpers in their area to see and fulfill. Helpers will be able to see those help requests in their area and offer help. The Helpers can get in touch with the Help Seekers and deliver the help that is requested
  
  
  

• Additional COVID-19 Funding Opportunities
  • UC Davis Office of Research provides a regularly updated set of links tied to COVID-19 funding opportunities across numerous US agencies, including Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Gates Foundation

Next Meeting

• Scheduled for Friday, 2020.05.01, 0700 Pacific Time

• Discussion: topics to add to agenda?