How Blockchain Technology Is Transforming the Healthcare Industry

Even in the busy lifestyle, people are becoming more aware of their health. The demand for authentic and smart healthcare solutions to cope up with their daily life. Thus, the use of technology has reached the healthcare industry as well.

As the Blockchain technology is getting more success with its unique benefits like traceability, better data control, immutability, decentralization, etc., its demand in the healthcare industry is growing. As per Markets and Markets report, the blockchain market in global healthcare is expected to reach USD 829.0 million by 2023.

The increasing incidences of fraud and data breaches are some of the significant driving factors of Blockchain technology in the healthcare sector. The implementation of this technology is bringing many revolutionary changes in this sector that we are going to discuss in this blog.

First, let’s look at the areas of improvement in the healthcare system that Blockchain can address.

Challenges in Healthcare Systems

There are several significant issues in the healthcare systems: treatment accuracy, data breach, medical records security, and more. Reviewing these challenges can help understand where our system is lacking and how the advent of technology improves it.

Counterfeit drugs are one of the main problems in the healthcare sector. Also, maintaining drug distribution to the pharmaceutical level is crucial in ensuring the quality of drugs and

The healthcare industry deals with a lot of sensitive data like a patient’s health record; sharing this data while maintaining data integrity and patient privacy is essential. It is also necessary to streamline record management to ensure authentic individuals can access patients’ records without any hindrance.

As cyber-attacks are rising, the need for robust security solutions is increasing to prevent data breaches and other malicious activities in healthcare industries.

Blockchain Uses in Healthcare Industries

A leading Blockchain development company helps the healthcare industry enhance its system performance with innovative solutions. Also, it helps in achieving better results for the health industry and its patients.

Let’s see how Blockchain helps address the problems faced by the healthcare industry and transform them.

1. Authenticity in Data Exchange

The decentralization system offered in Blockchain technology eliminates the gap in interoperability. It provides better control in data exchange from a centralized entity to a distributed network. Each ledger holds a cryptographic principle or a hash value, making each block of real-time health information easy to access.

The information shared in Blockchain is interoperated with one another; thus, data cannot be altered and has authorized access only. Each information block holds a personal ‘key’ required to access and update the records, ensuring the security of the data records during the transaction.

2. Automation of Manual Process

The healthcare sector also faces issues due to outdated healthcare repositories. Smart contracts in Blockchain facilitate automation in healthcare systems to execute results according to pre-set rules.

For example, when a patient moves to a new location, they have to go to a different physician or a specialist and fill out paperwork and explain their previous health record. However, Blockchain’ Smart Contracts’ can automate the patient’s data transfer process as per predetermined rules. The automated process makes the process error-free and efficient.

Additionally, it can also fasten the payment process and eliminate any human-made error by automating the process.

3. Traceability in Drugs and Clinical Records

As we have mentioned before, one of the significant issues faced by the healthcare industry is the loss associated with counterfeit drugs.

According to Statista, the United States faced $9 billion worth of federal and state tax revenues lost due to counterfeit medicines.

Blockchain provides significant benefits to the supply chain in the form of traceability. With Blockchain, data is stored in a chronological, unalterable, validated ledger, making it easier to track the raw materials, compounds, or components at every step of the supply chain separately. Also, the drug can be easily traced from its source to its pharmaceutical distributor to the patient.

‍Also, Blockchain offers data immutability, which means the stored information cannot be changed, helping in reducing the fraud incidents in clinical trial records. If the data has been modified, it can be detected via a system-generated hash code for every modification made to the data.

4. Improves Cybersecurity

Blockchain technology improves cybersecurity in healthcare systems as it ensures information authenticity and improves data privacy. The decentralized system in Blockchain makes it easy to trace the transactions.

There is an increase in healthcare IoT interconnected devices, which poses a serious concern for data protection. Blockchain fills the gap of data interoperability and ensures the security of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) use, leading to robust healthcare app development.

‍‍Final Words

‍Blockchain technology offers innovation in the healthcare industry, enabling more efficient healthcare systems. I hope this insightful guide unpacks certain aspects of this new technology and its functional benefits in the healthcare sector.

Understanding this technology and its practical uses in healthcare will help in promoting better health and services.

Author Bio

Brian Comel is a Sr. Blockchain Developer in Sparx IT Solutions with 4+ years of experience. He has also worked with a renowned Blockchain development company. In free time, he likes to share his knowledge about Blockchain technology with others through blogging.