Blockchain and Healthcare: Use Cases Today and Opportunities for the Future

There are many ways through which the use of Blockchain technology in healthcare can yield positive results for the industry as a whole. Throughout this text, we will go over the uses of the tech and how it intertwines with healthcare.

Major Healthcare Problem Today

Currently, most medical institutions use outdated and inconvenient methods for handling medical data. The situation is worsened by the fact that most medical facilities in the health care sector have their own methods for storing and accessing medical data.

Currently, no universal method for storing data is present, nor are there any appropriate standards set in place. This is where Blockchain and healthcare can come together to improve healthcare applications.

Use of Healthcare Data and How It Can Benefit from Blockchain

Let’s check out certain pain points that plague healthcare and see how Blockchain can come to the rescue.

• Health data management

The tech can create Blockchain medical records accessible and identical the world over. Patients could always have access to their health and treatment records when needed, and doctors as well.

• Clinical trials

One clinical trial can yield a lot of data, which can be quite difficult to track. Additionally, this data can be stolen, corrupted, hidden, or, as mentioned before, erased by a natural disaster.

Through the use of blockchain, the true authenticity of any document is confirmable. Data within a Blockchain is immutable, meaning there is no room for messing around.

• Traceability of medical drugs

Businesses involved in the health care sector stand to lose colossal funds due to counterfeit drugs. These fake drugs can also kill patients. Prescription drug misuse is also quite a big issue.

In Blockchain and healthcare, data is unchangeable, so it becomes quite easy to discern fraudulent activity, and, thus, real prescriptions from fake ones, as well as the source of drugs.

• Tracking the flow of services

The inefficient way in which health data is currently stored leads to significant funds lost trying to figure out treatments issued, care received, by whom, and when.

In blockchain, all events can be evaluated for authenticity, from insurance claims to care provided.

• Billing

Complex data relayed in the healthcare field can result in intentional and unintentional financial mishaps. Blockchain can improve billing auditability and security, while also promoting payment processing and billing efficiency and thwarting blatant theft.

• IoT in Healthcare

The tracking of bed occupancies in emergency rooms, remote and accurate monitoring of health, inventory, patients, staff, and medical device availability can be improved through the use of Blockchain in healthcare and IoT.

Challenges for Blockchain Healthcare

Many barriers will need to be overcome in order for Blockchain technology to go mainstream in the healthcare sector.

• Blockchain is not at a state of optimal maturity. Its implementation requires a decent infrastructure and interconnectivity.
• A lack of universal standards acts as an impediment for the merging of Blockchain and healthcare.
• Lack of knowledge about Blockchain.

The Future of Blockchain in Healthcare

Gaining an early understanding of healthcare Blockchain use is definitely a grand idea, as its future seems quite promising. Those that use Blockchain technology in healthcare are set up for great success. We will soon witness companies developing Blockchain technology solutions at an increased pace.

This is a brief summary of an article published on MLSDev blog. If you would like to learn more about the integration of blockchain into healthcare, read the full article.