Scaling Blockchain technology for Healthcare industry

A few years ago, we saw a wave of investment targeted at Blockchain applications for the financial services industry. As time passes by, the same momentum has powered the Blockchain technology for another industry that is Healthcare. Blockchain technology is a game-changer that has brought a transformation in not one or two industries but has changed the entire landscape of how business is done.

Although the financial and banking sectors were the trailblazing industries for the Blockchain technology and Blockchain solutions, the healthcare industry has also witnessed tremendous innovations. 

How Blockchain can provide opportunities for healthcare?

Blockchain is a distributed system of recording and storing the transaction records. In short, Blockchain is a shared and immutable record of peer-to-peer transactions that are stored in a digital ledger.

A Blockchain-powered health care industry would help smoothen the information exchange system and hence unlock the true value of interoperability. A system based on Blockchain technology has the potential to reduce or eliminate the friction and the costs that are associated with the current intermediaries. 

Capitalizing on this technology have the potential to connect the fragmented systems and understand the insights to assess the value of the healthcare system. In the long run, the Blockchain network for electronic medical records would improve efficiencies. Here are a few requirements that would be accessed by Blockchain technology:

1. Secure and ubiquitous infrastructure

2. Verification and authentication of all the stakeholders and participants

3. Consistent access to electronic health information and other requirements of the industry.

Blockchain Adoption in Healthcare

The main players in the adoption of the commercial Blockchain solutions would-be regulators, industry groups, and the market makers. Managing and securing the healthcare data and supply chains are the two biggest examples of the adoption of Blockchain in the healthcare industry.

1. Securing patient data

Securing the patient data and keeping the medical information safe is the most popular Blockchain healthcare application at the moment, which is not surprising enough. Security is one of the major issues in the industry. According to a data source, between 2009 and 2017, more than 176 million of the patient data records were exposed in the data breaches.

Blockchain’s capability to make the patient records as an incorruptible, decentralized, and transparent log of all patient data makes this technology rife for the security applications

2. Reducing risks and costs

Miscommunication between healthcare professionals can costs the healthcare industry a staggering $11 billion a year. Moreover, the time consuming and tiresome process of obtaining access to a patient’s medical records can delay patient care. 

The decentralized system of this technology creates an ecosystem of the patient records that can be quickly referred by the medical professionals and hence a faster diagnosis can be done.  

3. Clinical Trials

In the pharma industry, clinical trials are designed to test the effectiveness of a particular drug on a group of patients to validate a hypothesis. During clinical trials, a considerable amount of data is produced, safety and quality reports, statistics, blood tests, surveys, and much more- making it hard to track everyone.

In this case, Blockchain can provide a proof-of-existence for any document and allow everyone to verify the same. As the Blockchain technology reduces the risk of data fraud, many trustworthy protocols and results are published that facilitate the study in the scientific community. 

4. Drug Traceability

Drug counterfeiting is a major problem in the pharma industry. About 10 percent to 30 percent of the drugs that are sold in developing countries such as India are counterfeit. The counterfeit drug market is worth $200 billion annually. 

Since each new transaction added to the Blockchain is immutable and time-stamped, drug traceability becomes easier and it is made sure that information can not be altered. Furthermore, the problem is detected and the batch has to be withdrawn, Blockchain technology makes it easier for the organization to find the products and hence, avoid any complications.

Conclusion

With the advent of Blockchain technology in healthcare systems, we have achieved better handling of patient data, have improved the supply chains and eradicated the improper handling of the drugs. This technology has brought place for many innovations and a better organization of the healthcare industry.

Looking for a suitable Blockchain app development company? Debut Infotech offers comprehensive app development solutions tailor-made to suit your business requirements. 

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