Blockchain technology is a game changer that could impact not just one or two industries, but the entire business. Based on a survey of 200 healthcare executives, 16 percent expected a blockchain solution to be available this year. The key players in the implementation of blockchain are regulators, industry groups and market makers. Data governance and protection in healthcare and supply chain are two great examples of key concepts that will influence and be affected by the potential adoption of blockchain. Let's look at each one:
Healthcare: Better data sharing between healthcare providers means a greater likelihood of accurate diagnoses, more effective treatment, and the overall ability of healthcare organizations to provide cost-effective care. Blockchain technology can allow different stakeholders in the healthcare value chain to share access to their networks without compromising the security and integrity of the data, as they can trace the origin of the data and the changes made.
Supply chain management: One of the most common applications of blockchain technology is that it allows transactions to be tracked more securely and transparently. Blockchain enables transactions to be documented in a permanent distributed record – reducing delays, overhead and human error.
Innovating traditional models of healthcare
Blockchain has the potential to drive innovation in preventive medicine and community-based health models. The ability of distributed ledger technology to ensure data integrity and peer sharing can ensure collaboration across emerging health trends that are critical to improving the health of communities around the world.
Blockchain can connect complex team-based healthcare, financing and payments to companion care. The inherent public and private key properties of encryption, proof of work and decentralized data create a new level of health data integrity. Blockchain technology also makes it easier to track a drug as it moves from the manufacturer to the patient. This improves the traceability of the medicine as it moves through the supply chain and helps prevent counterfeit medicines.
Blockchain provides frictionless connectivity enhanced by smart contracts and permission to access all electronic health records. Its transaction layer enables immediate access to various standardized, anonymized and non-patient-identifiable data. Transparency and automation can also increase efficiency and reduce administrative costs. It is a step-by-step approach rather than an immediate review of systems, and is therefore suitable for the health sector.
Educating the healthcare industry on security
In the current system, security and trust are the most common concerns of companies regarding the information shared between different parties. Information can be entered on any line of communication, which causes trust issues, especially in the health sector. It is also a concern when multiple vendors have different versions of the same patient record that have not been validated, leading to various errors, inconsistencies and incompleteness. Add to that reports of security breaches, manipulation of personal data and the ever-present threat of hacking, and it's no surprise that health officials are worried.
Since blockchains are cryptographically secure and the information on them can be authenticated by each person's unique digital signature, this technology could be the answer to most of these problems.
Scaling blockchain for healthcare
The healthcare industry is on the brink of disruption in its digital infrastructure. The current system does not inherently support the necessary security or interoperability. Data portability and document interoperability between systems are important for the most effective use of collected medical data.
With the advent of mobile devices and IoT devices connected to many new data streams, there is a need for better security that is easily accessible to healthcare professionals. All these challenges can be minimized by blockchain technology and its interoperability, integrity and security, and portable user data.
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