Figure 1.

Example of smart contract for data queries such as “how many patients have hemoglobin test results for postmenopausal females”. (a) Traditional process of a researcher requesting a data query within a clinical data research network (i.e., from University A to University B), including the use of an electronic form as well as the need for a data concierge person to manage and respond to the queries. (b) Blockchain-based smart contract approach to manage/record the data queries automatically without human. Note that the choice of the query depends on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval as well as the Data Usage Agreement (DUA) signed between universities.