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July 21, 2018, 08:02:55 AM |
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The 87-year-old man with a history of vertigo and retinal occlusions had been experiencing dizziness and repeated falls. A trip to his primary care physician led him to an ENT specialist, who prescribed an MRI. The MRI showed adult-onset hydrocephalus or extra fluid in his brain. The patient used his home copier to print the MRI results and then hand carried them to his primary care physician, his retinal specialist, and his ophthalmologist. Why? Because only the ENT received a copy of the results. Unfortunately, data management in healthcare scatters critical information across multiple facilities and is often not accessible when needed.
Harnessing Blockchain Technology to Healthcare
Blockchain evolved in 2008 as an accounting system for bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency. The technology logs transaction records on linked ‘blocks’ and stores them in an encrypted digital ledger. Blockchains have no central administrator, instead spreading records across a series of replicated databases.
Let’s return to our 87-year-old patient.
With blockchain governed distributed storage technology being developed by MedChain, the patient agrees to have his information added during a visit with his primary care physician. Now, his medical information will be recorded in an encrypted, unbreachable database maintained by a network of computers. His appointment with the ENT, the MRI scan and the radiologist’s report would all become part of his accessible record, regardless of the electronic systems used by each provider. Importantly, only the patient and his provider would have the unique identifying ‘key’ to unlock his record.MedChain-$500,000🔥🌏 Platform Testing Utility Token Rewards🌏🔥
Benefits of Using Blockchain in Healthcare
Conversations about blockchain’s application in healthcare have increased in the last year, according to Healthcare Research & Analytics® (HRA). And Healthcare Rallies for Blockchain, a study from IBM, found that 56% of surveyed healthcare executives have plans to implement a commercial blockchain solution by 2020.
Beyond creating a common private patient database for physicians and providers, blockchain technology offers these benefits to the healthcare industry:
Expediting Drug Development through broad access of patient results (with permission). Researchers in clinical trials could recruit patients, monitor, and share outcomes through a centralized system, reducing the time and cost associated to bring effective drug solutions to market.
Reducing Medical Fraud through more accurate record management. Medicare and Medicaid fraud in 2017 totaled almost $1.3 billion — having a secure data infrastructure can minimize these losses. Blockchain technology provides visibility into actual occurrence of healthcare events such as visits, prescriptions, procedures, and follow-ups. Every event would be sequenced and recorded in an unchangeable format.
Protecting Patient Records through controlled access. Almost 15 million U.S. patient records were accessed in 2017, with most incidents a result of hacking. The value of patient data makes it a target for thieves — and it requires as much protection as currency. Blockchain technology can be used to encrypt patient information, verify data integrity, and call out unauthorized data access or manipulation.
Blockchain-based data management solutions are just starting to be implemented by healthcare organizations. Although healthcare executives in IBM’s study were bullish about blockchain, IDC Health Insights anticipates only 20% of organizations will have blockchain up-and-running by 2020. The opportunity for improving healthcare data management is quantifiable and large — and MedChain offers substantial building blocks for getting there.
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