Blockchain technology is becoming more well-known for its ability to securely store data without compromising on accessibility. With this in mind, an increasingly prominent concern for citizens, businesses and governments are privacy and securely managing huge volumes of sensitive data. In fact, privacy as a global security issue has been reported as a dominant concern for the United States this election year amid escalating unease around hacking and mass-market abuse of private data. A recent PWC poll showed that data is an overriding, common thread at the forefront of key policy areas reporting, “Privacy, antitrust, tax, regulation of artificial intelligence and trade are converging around the collection, sharing and security of data.” Right now in the health industry, without system consistency and security across all practices, records are vulnerable to data mismanagement and fraud.
Securing private information and maintaining confidentiality are core pillars of patient trust and safety in the healthcare industry. Alongside this are the needs of the patient and organisation alike to have data managed effectively as this upholds complex systems around diagnostic records, clinical tests and billing. To approach existing issues around file mismanagement and outdated systems while upholding privacy blockchains, by design, offer the healthcare industry an opportunity to streamline patient records that can be centrally implemented regardless of geographic location. According to Lori Cameron, “This allows [medical professionals] to achieve a global view of the patient’s medical history in an efficient, verifiable, and permanent way.” Managed properly, blockchains offer the health industry a comprehensive and cohesive way to secure records across entire states and even countries.
This infographic, How Blockchains Will Transform Healthcare, from Study Medicine Europe is designed to help you learn more about blockchains in the context of the health industry. From the risks to the statistics, through to the barriers to implementation and insight from industry professionals, this is an excellent starting point to understand how blockchains can be used for secure management of health data. Read on to find out more about how this technology can impact on healthcare as we know it.
It’s a shame that med records these days still aren’t organized very well. I think blockchain in the medical/healthcare industry will be huge!
I could see MANY areas in the healthcare field where blockchain could be of use. My wife is a nurse and totally agrees that it would be better than what they have now, especially for patient records and such. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the future.
Had no idea that counterfeit drugs cost the pharma companies money like this. I would love to learn more on how blockchain can reduce these financial losses.
Records are vulnerable indeed. It just takes one very determined hacker to break into a healthcare company’s database and then all hell is loose. All of our data is saved up on some server that’s not very well protected. Blockchain technology should be used everywhere from now on.
I am so curious to see what will happen in 10 or 15 years when it comes to the Blockchain and healthcare. I really think we’re going to see some innovative things come to life and it’s going to help people get better healthcare.
Like!! I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content. The article has truly peaked my interest.
My wife works in medical coding and said something like block chain could be extremely useful. I imagine it will be implemented soon, more than likely another country will start using it before the USA.
I’m thinking that in the future, many things will be blockchain based, including healthcare. I can see its benefit with keeping patient’s info secure. I wonder if there are benefits like securing the insurance info or something.