If you're like most people, you have a number of health concerns and may visit multiple doctors and pharmacies in your lifetime. But how many people actually keep track of their medical records?

We keep financial, car, and even pet records, but most people thought it was their doctor's job to keep their health information and know everything about it. But the reality is we consult different doctors in our lifetime. Our medical information may often be scattered across several clinics, hospitals, and laboratories.

Having your medical records with a history of our health could save lives – ours!

Data8 Sdn Bhd saw a big gap in efforts to empower patients in their health journey. With that in mind, Data8 develops cHEART, a personalised health app that allows patients/users to collect and store their medical data, and be able to share it securely with doctors and health practitioners accordingly in their health journey. The platform is built on blockchain technology to ensure data privacy and safety.

“Throughout our lifetime, we consult various doctors for different health concerns and the information is scattered everywhere. With cHEART, we make it easy for people to have the platform to store their medical data securely.

“We have the power to get the best health care possible and even save our own lives. This means taking charge of your own health information. And taking charge starts with keeping track of your medical records,” said Rajifah Ramli, Co-founder and CEO of Data8.

According to statistics, 80 per cent of health care professional relies on information in their medical records to make an accurate diagnosis and recommend the right treatment plan. This information is arguably more important than any other. Imagine the difficulty of making a diagnosis—let alone recommending the right treatment—if information (including your health history) is unavailable, incorrect or incomplete. Data such as this is very important especially during emergencies.

cHEART
cHEART is designed to help and support users and patients throughout their health journey- when people are healthy and when they are sick – during early detection, chronic cases and rehabilitation management.

It can be an important tool for people to stay healthy – to monitor their vitals eg. blood pressure, glucose level, BMI, SpO2 and store their medical conditions such as allergies and other medical conditions.

cHEART is useful especially for NCD (non-communicable disease) patients such as those with high blood pressures, diabetics etc to monitor their health conditions and get consultations with their doctors online. With medical records accessible on their mobile phone, patients can easily share the data with their doctors for medical advice. cHEART allows sharing of documents such as prescriptions, medical certificates, medical tests and others to be shared securely on the platform.

In addition to patient mobile apps, cHEART also features a platform for doctors so that doctors can access patients’ data and add input accordingly. cHEART also has a telemedicine feature for easy remote consultation with doctors anytime, anywhere.

Data Security
Ensuring privacy and data security is important in healthcare as we need to protect patient information and personal health data. cHEART is built on blockchain technology to ensure data safety and security.

“We believe that health information exchange will be critical in advancing the healthcare industry. Blockchain will essentially help with interoperability by streamlining efficiencies, making health care an achievable and cost-efficient reality for all. The ability to transmit patient records safely and securely will, in turn, allow patient data to be viewed by hospitals and other health providers across geographical boundaries. Blockchain technology will help create better privacy standards within the industry,” said Rajifah to comment on using blockchain technology for cHEART.

Data8 has also engaged CyberSecurity Malaysia to conduct Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Testing and Blockchain Security Assessment on cHEART.

Various application of cHEART
Data8 is one of the companies selected under the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox Initiative (NTIS), under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) that aims to encourage local innovation projects as well as to accelerate the development of new technology solutions. NTIS encourages the use of new technologies/innovations eg blockchain, AI and others by local companies to solve community problems such as in the health and medical sectors

Under this project, Data8 is collaborating with Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Hospital Sungai Buloh and cHEART is used to provide follow up services to post-discharge patients. After discharge, patients can still monitor and share their vitals eg their blood pressure with their doctors and do follow-up consultations using the telemedicine features. Patients don’t have to go to the hospital for their follow up consultations and can meet the doctors from the convenience of their homes.

“The pilot started in Feb this year. It is time to introduce this during the pandemic, as non-critical patients can still have access to medical consultation and services securely, without having to come to the hospital. The Emergency team at HKL and HSgBuloh led by Dato’ Dr Mahathar has been very supportive to embrace new technology for the benefit of the patients,” said Ainul Rofidza Ibrahim, Co-founder and COO of Data8.

In addition, Data8, the winner for Digital Health Innovation Challenge 2021 is also working with the State of Pahang to provide cHEART at Pusat Internet Komuniti to provide medical services to the unserved and underserved communities in rural areas. “We are working with various partners such Telekom Malaysia, FWD, AstraZeneca and various Klinik Kesihatan. Partnership with like-minded partners is important to provide better health access to various B40 communities;” said Ainul further.

According to Ainul, cHEART can also be customised to monitor COVID-19 patients that are being home quarantined. Recently Data8 had presented to Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri Kedah and Pahang to provide such services and help the front-liners manage the high number of COVID19 cases, using technology.

Health is true wealth – patient empowerment
The COVID-19 pandemic has created greater awareness about the importance of health, particularly on preventive and mental health. It significantly spurs the demand to leverage on technology to manage our health journey and systems better. “We have seen more interest among the public to take better care about their health. It is common for families now to check their BP, SpO2 at home. Just make sure all this data is captured properly so that it is convenient for your doctors to check your history and medical information,” said Rajifah.

If you want to start tracking and keep your medical data and be ‘sihat’, you can download cHEART, available on Playstore and iOS. Request for a demo is also available for GPs. For further details, you can check out www.cheart.io or www.data8.my.

This content is provided by Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC).

Interested in having your announcements on Malaysiakini? Contact the announcements team at [email protected] or whatsapp on +60 17-323 0707 for urgent matters.