Blockchain in Healthcare

The Tangible Benefits of Blockchain in Healthcare

A few years ago, we witnessed a wave of interest and investment targeted at Blockchain Applications for the financial administrations. As the years pass, that same momentum is carrying blockchain technology beyond the boundaries of financial services driving forward another industry — Healthcare.

It won’t be wrong to say healthcare space has some of the smartest and well-educated people in the world. Still, if you compare the industry to two decades ago, you’ll notice that hospitals, overall, still function pretty much the same way.

However, saying that no innovations have been made in the industry would be wrong. There are enough medicines, machines, equipment and what not? Despite having everything, the people look at the industry with a suspicious face. They simply don’t trust as many times they fall as a prey to their gains. Something was needed, and the blockchain arrived.

Let’s find out how blockchain can/is changing the healthcare standards!

Blockchain Era

Blockchain Era has already begun. Considering the fast progress in the development of efficient healthcare record systems, medical examination systems, and wearable devices implementing AI (Artificial Intelligence), cryptography will be a significant part of the way hospitals work.

However, there are a few improvements needed for seamless blockchain adoption across the entire medical industry. So, what are the advantages of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare?

Data Provenance and Integrity

Secure data sharing methods are crucial to ensure proper medical services. This is where it can turn out to be very useful since one of its primary advantages is data integrity.

Once information is recorded and encrypted on a blockchain, it is impossible to change or remove it. One of the approaches, blockchain uses allows for secure data recording and sharing is anchoring the data to the public blockchain. This approach incorporates generating proof of data integrity, using which, users can verify their data timestamp themselves without relying on third parties.

More Secured Standards

Yes, Blockchain offers a more secure way of protecting data. The nascent technology allows for the usage of new standards in managing PHI, insurance claims, and medical records. It even excludes intermediation in data sharing, while using the blockchain

Data Transparency

Needless to say, blockchain offers a decentralized register of ownership by recording transactions made through the system. It stores all the details, be it the formation of a data block or any digits related to a particular transaction.

Each device, as part of the system, stores a copy of this block as a proof of authenticity. The system, before making a transaction, confirms whether a blockchain version is matching with the other in the network or not. Therefore, each blockchain user can easily identify the owner of a particular data block at any point in time.

Healthcare Sector can leverage Blockchain to Contain Ever-Increasing Cost

According to the Journal published in 2017 by the American Medical Association, healthcare spending in the USA alone witnessed a rise of USD 1 Trillion from 1996 to 2015. The main reason for the increased cost is due to the untapped monopoly of healthcare service providers. There is no transparency in the operations of the major health care institutes as well as the drug suppliers, who exploit the loopholes in the regulations and the patients have to bear the burnt.

With the help of blockchain, the healthcare sector can see the empowerment of the patients, Health App developers, medical service providers, and equipment suppliers. Many new projects have come up in recent times to help the healthcare industry become more feasible for everyone. Be it Nebula genomics or the new entrant’s CURES, the blockchain powered healthcare solutions are on the rise.

While Nebula is focused on gene sequencing and providing the data to customers under $1,00, CURES is focused on improving the infrastructure and bringing the widely disintegrated health care industry under the umbrella of decentralization which would lead to greater transparency and thus better healthcare at affordable prices as stated by Mr. Stefan Krastev CEO CURES.

Blockchain in Healthcare was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.