Blockchain uses in Healthcare

Healthful Vitality | 04/12/2019 | By Dr. Faiq Shaikh, MD | Blockchain uses in Healthcare

Blockchain is a technology that uses secure and encrypted authentication mechanism that aims to perform validation of information from primary sources and recording it in a distributed ledger, whereby ensuring a shared source of truth for validating healthcare provider information. Indeed, blockchain has many potential uses in healthcare, which can prove to be transformative, making it more secure, organized, efficient, and optimized.

Blockchain uses in healthcare

These are the aspects of Healthcare that blockchain can greatly impact:

Patient records

Blockchain can transform the technology behind the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to make them securely linked and be accessible across different provider organizations to improve care coordination. Blockchain’s distributed ledger technology is well-suited for recording transactions, which can be leveraged in healthcare to record events and their related documentation/reporting as currently this process is slow, inaccurate and insecure. It is a critical use case for blockchain application and there are several advancements made in this space, such as the MedRec project [1], which is a proof of concept project related to the use of blockchain in medication data handling, with more data types, data contributors, and users being added to the project. As shown by this proof of concept, biomedical and outcomes research may significantly benefit from the application of blockchain to provide rapid, secure access to longitudinal research data.

Smart contract regarding blockchain uses in healthcare

Blockchain can be applied to introduce the “smart contract” feature for health insurance claims to automate the health claims adjudication process. It can help streamline payers’ and patients’ provider payments for a more efficient process from the time and cost perspective. Furthermore, early studies have been to show the use of blockchain-enabled smart contracts in telemedicine for remote patient monitoring [2].

Interoperability

Data interoperability is a huge challenge in healthcare delivery systems, especially as different components of the system get digitized. Blockchain allows for efficient and secure ways to transfer data between silos and across institutions/centers. A blockchain-enabled system is able to share patient records across payers and providers while reducing costs and minimizing risks. This allows to be readily available to any treating physician, health system or payer within the blockchain network. Furthermore, it allows patients to make insurance claims, change health insurance providers and choose physicians across various health providers, without any system redundancies. There is an overall reduction of duplicative testing, erroneous treatment, and incomplete medical data. Several studies have been done to show the feasibility and usefulness of blockchain in this domain, such as secure online patient access through patient portals, reliable and convenient personal health apps, etc [3].

Prescriptions regarding blockchain uses in healthcare

There is a huge opportunity for blockchain to optimize the patient prescription process. At this time, medications are prescribed and dispensed by hospitals and pharmacies, each with their own siloed database, resulting in a high number of redundancies and discrepancies. A prescription blockchain standardizes the otherwise varied systems across the board and provides a reliable source of patient prescription records. This reduces errors and improves patient experience at the same time [4]. 

Provider data and identity management

This is another area of impact within healthcare for the blockchain technology. Identity and credential management is central to a secure and reliable healthcare delivery system, whereby both the licensed providers and patients are accurately identified. Presently, all payers and providers maintain this data separately, which has a high likelihood of errors and redundancies, not to mention high expenses. Blockchain provides a distributed database of provider credentials accessible to payers and providers that is universally available. Among other benefits, it also reduces processing time and enables instant record updates.

Related Article: 10 Strong Benefits of Digital Transformation in Hospitals

References:

1. https://medrec.media.mit.edu/
2. Healthcare Blockchain System Using Smart Contracts for Secure Automated Remote Patient Monitoring. Griggs KN, Ossipova O, Kohlios CP, et al. J Med Syst. 2018 Jun 6;42(7):130. doi: 10.1007/s10916-018-0982-x.
3. Blockchain Technology for Healthcare: Facilitating the Transition to Patient-Driven Interoperability. Gordon WJ, Catalini C. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2018; 16: 224–230. Published online 2018 Jun 30. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2018.06.003
4. Blockchain technology in e-health: The case of electronic prescriptions in Germany. Seitz J, Wikramasinghe N. Novi Sad, Serbia, October 4. – 6. 2017.