One of the biggest problems in healthcare today is that organizations hold multiple and fragmented health records about patients. The medical chain solves this problem by putting medical record transactions on the blockchain to create a smart healthcare ecosystem. With a medical chain, a smart contract is launched to give time-limited access to a patient’s electronic health record. Doctors write notes ad scans and lab results which are all recorded as transactions. Healthcare is the most data-intensitive clinical domain where a tremendous amount of data is generated, accessed, and disseminated regularly. Protecting and disseminating, due to the sensitive nature of data and limiting factors are crucial, as well as significantly challenging.
Particular there is a massive opportunity for the blockchain revolution to lead a digital transformation from medical records to pharmaceutical supply chains to a smart contract for payment distribution.
3 ways that Blockchain can change healthcare
Health records are the skeleton of every health system. But the way of collecting and keeping patient data in every health institution is different. How medical records become more complex by each visit to your doctor there is more chance of losing some sensitive data. Can you imagine how easy it would be if every health institution has access to the same platform with patient sensitive data, treatments, and doctors who served the patient earlier? Additionally, while blockchain is transparent it is also private, concealing the identity of any individual with complex and secure codes that can protect the sensitivity of medical data. In the long term, a nationwide blockchain network for electronic medical records may improve efficiencies and support better health outcomes for patients. More than 176 million patient records were exposed in data breaches between 2009 and 2017.
Supply Chain management can be monitored securely and transparent with blockchain. Use time delays and human mistakes it can also be used to monitor costs labor and even waste in the missions is at every point in the supply chain. It is can be used to verify the authenticity of every product by tracing them with more efficient logistics solutions that are which will confirm that the medications were not in some wrong conditions, such as inappropriate temperature, near a fire, or in a humid place. Research by Health Research Funding Organization (HRFO) showed that approximately 10%-30% of drugs in developing countries are fake, and this number is predicted to rise year by year. These kinds of drugs are seriously detrimental to the patient’s health. The transparency of blockchain makes it extremely easy to verify the whole journey of the drug, eliminating counterfeit drug proliferation, enhancing efficiency in the pharmaceutical industry, and protecting consumers and branding of the company.
A typical example is Farma Trust. FarmaTrust digital solutions and services create efficiencies, accountability, and transparency for supply chains, ease the burden of compliance requirements, reduce costs, and eliminate counterfeit or substandard products.
Genomic Market companies like Nebula Genomic and Encrypt Gen Market build a blockchain platform where people can share and save genomic data safe and securely. This company uses blockchain to enhance data protection to and to secure that data will get from source to end-user without the third party.
9 out of 10 new drugs fail to make it to the clinical trial, and a lot more don’t even reach the FDA-approval stage. The big problem for pharma companies is getting crucial patient data in an era when they are not really trusted by people.
The good news is that around 61 percent of pharma companies are already embracing AI, with blockchain implementation in the pipeline.
Blockchain in healthcare helps pharma create auditable, unalterable, and distributed databases for storing and accessing drug trial data.
If you want to know more about Blockchain, check my previous blog posts:
- Blockchain Is the Next Big Thing for a Reason
- Now it is time to open a Cryptocurrency account
- Why investing in Bitcoin is so appealing?
- Blockchain glossary you need to know
- What exactly is Blockchain?
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