Impact of Blockchain Technology in Health Care
By: Jeet Mehta
Tags: Healthcare Technology, Smart Contracts, Contracts, Healthcare, Blockchain

Photo by Kendal on Unsplash

Blockchain technology has the potential to transform health care, placing the patient at the center of the health care ecosystem and increasing the security, privacy, and interoperability of health data. This technology could provide a new model for health information exchanges (HIE) by making electronic medical records more efficient, disinter mediated, and secure. While it is not a panacea, this new, rapidly evolving field provides fertile ground for experimentation, investment, and proof-of-concept testing. ​

The promise of blockchain has widespread implications for stakeholders in the health care ecosystem. Capitalizing on this technology has the potential to connect fragmented systems to generate insights and to better assess the value of care. In the long term, a nationwide blockchain network for electronic medical records may improve efficiencies and support better health outcomes for patients.

Bruce Broussard, president and CEO of Humana, posits blockchain will become the next big healthcare technology innovation, particularly as it relates to payments and payer contracts. For example, in a situation when a health plan and patient are dealing with a contract, the blockchain can automatically verify and authorize information and the contractual processes. “There is no more back-and-forth haggling with the health plan about what was paid, why it was paid or whether it should have been paid,” he wrote. “With transparency and automation, greater efficiencies will lead to lower administration costs, faster claims and less money wasted.”

Another potential healthcare application is population health. Instead of relying on health information exchanges or other ways to aggregate data, organizations can eliminate the middleman and access patient databases on a large, population scale. “Spending time and resources verifying members’ trustworthiness (e.g., HIE, all-payer claims database, local EMRs) no longer makes savvy business sense. Blockchain will leap frog population health by providing trust where none exists for continuous access to patient records by directly linking information to clinical and financial outcomes,” reports CIO.

With its ability to deflate the current spending bubble, protect patient data and improve the overall healthcare experience, blockchain may help ease the pain. The technology is already being used to do everything from securely encrypt patient data to manage the outbreak of harmful diseases. And at least one country is big on the potential of blockchain healthcare: Estonia.

The size of Tennessee with the population of Maine, Estonia began using blockchain technology in 2012 to secure healthcare data and process transactions. Now all of the country’s healthcare billing is handled on a blockchain, 95% of health information is ledger-based and 99% of all prescription information is digital.

SECURING PATIENT DATA

Keeping our important medical data safe and secure is the most popular blockchain healthcare application at the moment, which isn’t surprising. Security is a major issue in the healthcare industry. Between 2009 and 2017, more than 176 million patient records were exposed in data breaches. The perpetrators stole credit card and banking information, as well as health and genomic testing records.

Blockchain’s ability to keep an incorruptible, decentralized and transparent log of all patient data makes it a technology rife for security applications. 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. The decentralized nature of the technology also allows patients, doctors and healthcare providers to share the same information quickly and safely.

Checkout how these these companies are applying blockchain to healthcare security:

BURSTIQ:

BurstIQ’s platform helps healthcare companies safely and securely manage massive amounts of patient data. Its blockchain technology enables the safekeeping, sale, sharing or license of data while maintaining strict compliance with HIPAA rules.

Blockchain application: The company uses blockchain to improve the way medical data is shared and used.

Real-life impact: Because BurstIQ’s platform includes complete and up-to-date information about patients’ health and healthcare activity, it could help to root out abuse of opioids or other prescription drugs

FACTOM:

Factom creates products that help the healthcare industry securely store digital records on the company’s blockchain platform that’s accessible only by hospitals and healthcare administrators. Physical papers can be equipped with special Factom security chips that hold information about a patient and stored as private data that is accessible only by authorized people.

Blockchain application: Factom employs blockchain technology to securely store digital health records.

Real-life impact: In June of 2018, Factom got a grant of nearly $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to beta-test a platform aimed at integrating secure data from Border Patrol cameras and sensors in order to better understand the impacts of blockchain in “a realistic field environment.”

BLOCKCHAIN MEDICAL RECORDS CAN STREAMLINE CARE AND PREVENT COSTLY MISTAKES

Miscommunication between medical professional’s costs the healthcare industry a staggering $11 billion a year. The time consuming process of obtaining access to a patient’s medical records exhausts staff resources and delays patient care. Blockchain-based medical records offers a cure for these ills.

The decentralized nature of the technology creates one ecosystem of patient data that can be quickly and efficiently referenced by doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and anyone else involved in treatment. In this way, the blockchain can lead to faster diagnoses and personalized care plans.

These four companies are embracing the concept of blockchain medical records to create shared databases and personalized health plans.

These companies are embracing the concept of blockchain medical records to create shared databases and personalized health plans.

SIMPLYVITAL HEALTH

SimplyVital Health is making its decentralized technology available to the healthcare industry. It’s Nexus Health platform is an open source database that allows healthcare providers, on a patient’s blockchain, to access pertinent information. Open access to important medical information helps healthcare professionals coordinate medical efforts more quickly than traditional methods.

Blockchain application: SimplyVital uses blockchain to create an open source database so healthcare providers can access patient information and coordinate care.

Real-life impact: SimplyVital recently partnered with genemics and precision medicine company Shivom to form a Global Healthcare Blockchain Alliance that employs blockchain security to protect DNA sequencing data.

CORAL HEALTH RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

Coral Health uses blockchain to accelerate the care process, automate administrative processes and improve health outcomes. By inserting patient information into distributed ledger technology, the company connects doctors, scientists, lab technicians and public health authorities quicker than ever. Coral Health also implements smart contracts between patients and healthcare professionals to ensure data and treatments are accurate.

Blockchain application: Coral’s blockchain technology accelerates care, automates administrative processes and employs smart contracts between patients and doctors.

Real-life impact: According to Coral’s chief strategy officer Jeremy Mullin, the company is looking into the possibility of using a blockchain and the Smart on FHIR protocol “to let patients track their own health files.”

MEDICAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND DRUG TRACEABILITY/SAFETY

How much do we really know about our medicine? Can we be sure it hasn’t been tampered with? Is it coming from a legitimate supplier? These questions are the primary concerns of the medical supply chain, or the link between the lab and the marketplace.

Blockchain has serious implications for pharmaceutical supply chain management, and its decentralization virtually guarantees full transparency in the shipping process. Once a ledger for a drug is created, it will mark the point of origin (ie. a laboratory). The ledger will then continue to record data every step of the way, including who handled it and where it has been, until it reaches the consumer. The process can even monitor labor costs and waste emissions.

Here are the companies using blockchain to rethink the medical supply chain.

CHRONICLED

Chronicled builds blockchain networks that demonstrate chain-of-custody. The networks help pharma companies make sure their medicines arrive efficiently, and they enable law enforcement to review any suspicious activity — like drug trafficking. In 2017, Chronicled created the Medi-ledger Project, a ledger system dedicated to the safety, privacy and efficiency of medical supply chains.

Blockchain application: Chronicled’s blockchain network is used to ensure the safe arrival and detailed review of drug shipments.

Real-life impact: According to the company, results from Chronicled’s recent Medi-Ledger Project prove that its blockchain-based system “is capable of acting as the interoperable system for the pharmaceutical supply chain” and “can meet the data privacy requirements of the pharmaceutical industry itself.”

BLOCKPHARMA

Blockpharma offers a solution to drug traceability and counterfeiting. By scanning the supply chain and verifying all points of shipment, the company’s app lets patients know if they are taking falsified medicines with the help of a blockchain-based SCM system, Blockpharma weeds out the 15% of all medicines in the world that are fake.

Blockchain application: Through its app, the company’s blockchain-based system can help prevent patients from taking counterfeit medicines.

BREAKTHROUGHS IN GENOMICS

The potential of genomics to improve the future of human health, once a dream, is now a scientific and financial reality. In 2001, it cost $1 billion to process a human genome. Today it costs about $1,000, and companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com are bringing DNA tests that unlock clues to our health and past to millions of homes.

Blockchain is a perfect fit for this growing industry as it can safely house billions of genetic data points. It’s even become a marketplace where people can sell their encrypted genetic information to create a wider database, giving scientists access to valuable data faster than ever before.

These three companies are using blockchain to further our understanding of the most basic building blocks of human life.

NEBULA GENOMICS

Nebula Genomics is using distributed ledger technology to eliminate unnecessary spending and middlemen in the genetic studying process. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies spend billions of dollars each year acquiring genetic data from third parties. Nebula Genomics is helping to build a giant genetic database by eliminating expensive middlemen and incentivizing users to safely sell their encrypted genetic data.

Blockchain application: The company uses blockchain to streamline the study of genetics and lower costs.

ENCRYPGEN

The EncrypGen Gene-Chain is a blockchain-backed platform that facilitates the searching, sharing, storage, buying and selling of genetic information. The company protects its users’ privacy by allowing only other members to purchase the genetic information using safe, traceable DNA tokens. Member companies can use the genetic information to build upon their genetic knowledge and advance the industry.

Blockchain application: The company’s blockchain platform makes it easier to search for, share, store and buy genetic information.

Real-life impact: EncrypGen plans to expand its user profile to include self-reported medical and behavioral data. According to company co-founder and CEO Dr. David Koepsell, it’s also working on integrating a blockchain payment and auditing platform as well as forming partnerships with testing companies, analytics software developers and others.