Blockchain in Healthcare

Blockchain technology has the potential to improve health care by putting the patient at the center of the system and improving health data security, privacy, and interoperability. There's a valid explanation behind this. Simply said, blockchain can transform the healthcare industry.

One of the biggest challenges around blockchain is distinguishing between the real blockchain-based applications and the hype. This is hard to do because there are still only a few large-scale, real-world implementations of blockchain beyond Bitcoin.

You might immediately think of cryptocurrencies when the topic of blockchains comes up. But blockchains aren't limited to only supporting digital currencies. They're now being used in multiple sectors, including healthcare.

Blockchain is a distributed, immutable record of peer-to-peer transactions that are created from connected transaction blocks and kept in a digital ledger. Blockchain uses well-established cryptographic techniques to allow each network participant to communicate (e.g., store, exchange, and view information) without the need for prior trust. There is no central authority in a blockchain system; instead, transaction records are maintained and dispersed among all network participants.

How can blockchain optimize healthcare?

Blockchain technology can be transformative in healthcare. It can help achieve security, privacy and the integration of health data.

Blockchain offers the opportunity for a new technological model in an HIE(Health Information Exchange) that makes electronic medical records more efficient and secure. It can also reduce or eliminate the friction and costs of current intermediaries.

HIE data is used to improve the quality of healthcare, prevent errors, and increase the efficiency of administration. It includes Electronic health records, Data collected from Internet of Things (IoT) devices or monitoring systems, Medical insurance claims, E-prescribing, Secure messaging.

Lets take a look at the use cases

1. IoT security for remote monitoring

One of the biggest trends in digital health is the adoption of remote monitoring solutions, where all kinds of sensors measuring patients vital signs are being used to help give healthcare practitioners more visibility into patients health, enabling more proactive and preventative care.

However, security is a huge issue in health IoT, both in terms of ensuring that patient data is private and secure and that it is not tampered with to create false information. In some cases, where a connected device may be depended on in emergency situations, e.g. alerting an elderly persons carer that they have suffered a fall or a heart attack, it is also crucial that the supporting systems are very resilient to DDoS or other attacks disrupting service.

Blockchain cryptography ensures that only permitted parties can gain access to personal data, which is stored on the blockchain as a unique hash function (any change in the source data will create a different hash function, and a user must have a specific set of cryptographic keys to decode the hash function into the source data).

The decentralised nature of blockchain means that IoT devices can interact directly with each other, without going through a centralised server (as most IoT connections do today), making it very difficult to launch DDoS and man in the middle attacks.

1. Genomic Data Protection

Genomic data theft has become a big issue as more companies deliver DNA sequencing to the individual. This can be avoided using blockchain, and it can even be used to create an online marketplace where scientists can acquire genomic data for research reasons. This could encourage secure selling while obviating the need for costly middlemen.

1. Medical staff credential verification

Similar to tracking the provenance of a medical good, blockchain technology can be used to track the experience of medical professionals, where trusted medical institutions and healthcare organisations can log the credentials of their staff, in turn helping to streamline the hiring process for healthcare organisations.

1. Supply chain transparency

A major challenge across the healthcare sector, as in many others, is ensuring the provenance of medical goods to confirm their authenticity. Using a blockchain-based system to track items from the manufacturing point and at each stage through the supply chain enables customers to have full visibility and transparency of the goods they are buying.

This is a top priority for the industry, especially in developing markets where counterfeit prescription medicines cause tens of thousands of deaths annually.

While there are tremendous applications of Blockchain technology in health care, it is not yet fully mature or a panacea that can be used instantly. Before a healthcare blockchain can be embraced by companies across the country, a number of technical, organizational, and behavioral economics difficulties must be overcome.