(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Blockchain technology is impacting our lives in many ways. One such area it is impacting is the healthcare sector. How so, you ask? Let us find out.
#1 Electronic Health Records
Healthcare organizations have long had to work around the visibility issues that come along with sharing health data, whether through faxing or mailing paper documents or by creating multiple copies of electronic records. Blockchain technology has the potential to fix some of these problems.
The system allows patients to share their medical information between hospitals and other healthcare facilities. That is a vital tool in emergencies (such as a car accident or heart attack) when there is no time for a hospital to wait for a patient’s records from another healthcare provider.
Since blockchain technology cannot be altered once it’s stored in blocks, it will eliminate redundant data entry and could also eventually reduce the need for hospitals and other healthcare providers to maintain different systems for storing patient records.
Since all information on the blockchain can only be changed if there is a consensus agreement among participants, this would also help prevent errors and fraud while reducing the risks of lost documents.
#2 Personal Health Records
In a blockchain healthcare system, patients retain control over their medical records, which are stored in the cloud. The cloud is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of computers (or servers) that provide data on demand to users via the internet. Using this arrangement, patients can store and access their health records at any time—even if they’re not using the same computer they used to upload them! Only they have the private key necessary to decrypt and view their personal information.
Moreover, with a blockchain system, medical records can be shared between different healthcare providers seamlessly. Because of how blockchains are built, this sharing would strengthen security by decentralizing patient data across multiple servers instead of having it all stored in one central location that could be vulnerable to hacking.
Patients don’t need to worry about government surveillance agencies or insurance companies accessing their information without permission because it’s encrypted so well no one knows what lies underneath except those who should know: providers treating you right now or your primary care doctor down the street where you live next door from each other (you’re best friends).
#3 Supply Chain Management
You’ve entrusted your life and the health of your family to the healthcare industry. But when it comes to the supply chain, there’s no guarantee that what you’re looking at is what you expect.
The integrity of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, blood products, vaccines, and other products requiring a cold chain (a temperature-controlled supply chain) has a huge impact on patient safety. Given that these products are also in high demand by fraudsters—who make an estimated $75 billion worldwide each year on counterfeit drugs alone—there’s no doubt that our current system of tracking them from facility to facility could use some serious improvements.
Blockchain technology can help solve both issues by adding transparency in product tracking and providing visibility into who exactly is handling the goods along their journey.
#4 Medical Billing and Claims Adjudication
Insurance billing is a complex, archaic process. It can take weeks or months for insurance companies to adjudicate claims and reimburse patients. This can lead to high overhead costs and delays in payment for the healthcare providers you visit.
Blockchain technology would allow this process to be handled more efficiently through smart contracts. Smart contracts are secure digital agreements that can automatically verify and execute transactions, cutting out the middle-man of an insurance company in the process.
The patient’s information and payment history could be stored securely on a blockchain that only an approved third party (such as a doctor) could access with proper identification credentials. When a claim comes in, the smart contract could then immediately verify whether an individual has sufficient funds available to cover their medical expenses, eliminating the need for manual verification from the insurance company.
Thanks to blockchain technology, you can now buy cryptocurrency from a crypto exchange and pay your medical bills. It does not matter whether you buy crypto with a credit card or via bank transfer. When you purchase cryptocurrency, you are automatically converting the fiat to crypto. So, you can directly pay from your digital wallet.
#5 Encrypting PHI (Protected Health Information)
Blockchain technology is one of the most revolutionary innovations of our time, and it has the potential to be used in a variety of ways. But while many people have heard of blockchain, a surprising number don’t realize that it’s quite simple.
At its core, encryption is relatively straightforward: it’s a method for securely sending data from point A to point B. The data gets locked up with an encryption key at point A, then travels to point B where it’s unlocked with the corresponding decryption key for viewing or editing. The goal is to prevent anyone from tampering with or stealing the contents of your message while it’s in transit.
When this concept is applied to healthcare records, we can call the encrypted (locked) form “protected health information” (PHI). And since PHI is constantly being transferred between doctors’ offices and insurance companies, securing these kinds of transfers becomes critical when we’re dealing with human lives on the line.
In an industry like healthcare, there are many regulations around what kind of information you can share—and whom you can share it with—so having strong protections against intruders and unauthorized access attempts becomes very important for avoiding legal consequences as well keeping patient data safe from prying eyes.
These are just some of the more vital ways blockchain is helping the healthcare sector. As time goes on, we will see more applications of this technology in the medical sector.