Bitcoin Forum

Everyone can agree that modern healthcare system leaves a lot to be desired. Patient is excluded from most decisions. Administrative transactions are so complicated that they can weeks even months. Coordinating care is manual and frustratingly difficult.

This leads to inefficiencies, waste, fraud, and over-utilization.

Proper application of Blockchain/DLT gives us an opportunity to decentralize the administration and coordination of healthcare, in a manner that will bring clarity and efficiency to the system.

We can actually optimize and automate much of the friction associated with the 3rd party payment model. And we can fundamentally change the way care is coordinated. The result will be savings of billions of dollars every year and perhaps more importantly, engagement and empowerment of consumers and care providers.

What is it that healthcare is lacking now? Is it that the clearence for payments in single payer systems isn't all that fast, or could you be talking about non single payer systems? Either way, I think that manual procedures are necessary to some extent when it comes to health-care. Sure, blockchains are good for transactioning, rpoof of payment and perhaps even record keeping but I wouldn't see them becoming a major part of helathcare orgs

The advantages of blockchain are obvious, but with any new technology there are questions about efficacy and efficiency.

The benefit of blockchain in healthcare would take place across the entire supply chain spectrum. Contractual agreements between payer and patient or provider and patient (or between provider and payer) would be implemented with the use of smart contracts within the blockchain. Smart contracts lead to efficiencies as they enable a reduced number of intermediaries that exist today which lead to more streamlined transactions. These transactions would enable a more holistic view of the patient’s record for all parties involved and lead to an increase in transparency.

Beyond contractual transactions, clinical transactions based on electronic health records would also occur on the blockchain. This would enable clinicians to have access to different components of the patient’s data throughout the patient’s lifetime with an increase in transparency (this access would be controlled so that providers have access to data only on a need-to-go basis).

Improvements in the supply chain from blockchain would be extended to drug companies and manufacturers, as well as improvement to pharma clinical trials and longitudinal health research for the patient.

I do recognize the advantages of blockchain tech but for a system that involves so much state supervision the changes needed would perhaps be too extreme to implement in order to introduce it to health care. I think that use in the health sector would only come if there ever was major adoption in the private sector.

I agree. It’s a long period of implementation and it wouldn’t take a one day .

Blockchain applications have been surging in a number of different industries. According to Deloitte, 35% of health and life sciences companies surveyed plan to use blockchain, and 28% of respondents plan to invest $5 million or more (10% plan $10 million or more). The industries implementing blockchain are numerous and are led by real estate, supply chain and others. Within healthcare, a number of companies have begun implementations of blockchain in various areas of applications-including Gem (in collaboration with Philips Healthcare Blockchain Lab).

imagine it this way.

a hospital and a health insurance company have a multisig

the insurance company sends a tx with a maturity(CLTV) expiring an hour after the surgery would be expected to finish.
then the hospital can multisig their supplies based on that payment.

which can all be automated by computers, not humans

this can be done by systems that see payment received to certain addresses which trigger systems like booking the operating theatre and doctors so that the payment becomes the booking confirmation system

where they all get paid (able to close their multisigs) once the surgery is done. knowing if surgery was cancelled the payments get withdrawn (using CSV)

I also see some of these getting created through smart contracts, it's just waiting on first hack or exploit to happen.