Medical Advances Using Blockchain Technology
With a blockchain, healthcare systems can securely store medical records, updating patient data in real-time across different facilities and locations, with confidence. Blockchain applications can enhance performance, security, and transparency for shared health data across a healthcare system. Blockchain networks are used in the healthcare system for patient data storage and sharing across hospitals, diagnostic labs, pharmacy companies, and physicians. Blockchain is being explored as a platform for the secure sharing of health data between organizations within a public environment, which would enable doctors and practitioners to access a more complete history of health, in turn, providing better healthcare for patients.
This would eliminate the need for patients to carry around paper or electronic records in the new healthcare setting; they would just grant a provider access to their medical data in the distributed blockchain. They are also using a patient-centric approach, by developing further a further decentralized blockchain-based app for patients to give them data access rights and controls, allowing them to show that there is a viable decentralized care delivery system, and strong patient interest in having access to their medical data. Maps similarly puts PPR into the hands of patients, giving them power in accepting, rejecting, or changing relationships with healthcare providers such as doctors, insurance companies, and hospitals, etc. The blockchain-based system allows interoperability within a health care system, providing a decentralized ledger of accepted facts within medical records that is accessible by all health care providers.
A key building block for Anthems current pilot is creating a permission-based system allowing consumers to manage their identities and ownership of their healthcare data using Blockchain technology, she said. The nature of blockchain technology could allow for compliance with HIPAA while still keeping patient privacy in mind, said Ruth Levy Lotan. In fact, BIS Research has revealed estimates reporting that immediate deployment and integration of blockchain technology in health care can save over $100 billion annually in costs related to IT, operations, supporting functions, staffing, and healthcare data breaches through 2025.
References:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266462 https://journalofscientificinnovationinmedicine.org/articles/10.29024/jsim.7/ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landig/article/PIIS2589-7500(21)00210-7/fulltext https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-health-care-moving-toward-blockchain/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/10/25/the-future-of-blockchain-in-healthcare/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266660302100021X https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/how-anthem-using-blockchain-technology-to-free-up-patients-data
https://www.zenger.news/2022/08/12/new-firm-speeds-the-pace-of-medical-breakthroughs-with-blockchain/
