The use of blockchain technology in healthcare is being mulled upon for a while now. The digital currency technology, with its features like immutability, security, and privacy makes it an ideal candidate to safeguard confidential information.
The healthcare system has so far been using conventional data management and communication methods, provided by a handful of vendors. The vendors of health systems usually follow their own set of information standards, creating challenges when it comes to cross-platform operations.
The emergence of interoperable blockchain platforms for healthcare applications may soon make these challenges a thing of the past. Other potential applications of the distributed ledger technology in health industry include supply chain validation and revenue cycle management.
According to industry reports, the use of blockchain technology for managing patient information and other databases insulates the hospitals and data centers from ransomware attacks. The use-case is especially relevant at the time when Bitcoin ransomware attacks are at an all-time high targeting almost every industry segment.
Companies like Accenture and MedRec are working on creating an additional blockchain layer over legacy systems to ensure interoperability while providing privacy and scalability. Such initiatives have also received the support of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The institution has recently sponsored an ideation challenge to solve the interoperability issues using blockchain technology.
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Few applications of blockchain technology in other sectors are also being considered for use in a healthcare related setting. Supply chain management is one such segment. Few startups are already working on creating solutions that make it possible to track goods from the point of origin to the end customer, preventing the possibility of counterfeiting. The same can be implemented to ensure the quality of drugs and also to monitor the maintenance of cold chain during transport.
Insurtech is another segment that can pitch in its digital currency technology based solutions for claims management. It will help reduce the time taken to receive and process insurance claims and more. All these put together can make things a lot easier for the professionals working in these sectors. However, there is a matter of regulations, which are expected to get resolved soon as the awareness of blockchain technology grows among bureaucrats and policy makers.
Ref: CyberMed News | Image: NewsBTC