Blockchain technology holds a lot of features to revolutionize the healthcare sector. It unlocks the potential to build an ecosystem that sustains cross-functionality across the healthcare industry. Here, at Blockchain Firm, we help build a whole healthcare ecosystem that facilitates all kinds of medical services.
What is Blockchain and How does it Serve Healthcare?
The blockchain is a technology that allows seamless tracking of data and information stored on a distributed ledger. The data stored in the blockchain are immutable. Multiple blocks connected in series form a chain-like structure, hence the title ‘Blockchain’.
Blockchain is decentralized in nature, meaning that there are no intermediaries or authorities to govern the network. Thus, they are self-governed with consensus mechanisms. The data maintained in a blockchain is encrypted by hash algorithms and validated by Proof of Work. Users who present the proof of work are called Miners.
Blockchain technology has several applications in the healthcare domain. Objectives such as tracking, quality control, management, verification, and payments can be easily achieved by implementing blockchain in healthcare.
Benefits of Blockchain in Healthcare:
- Patient data management.
- Secure payments.
- Elimination of counterfeit drugs.
- Reduced paperwork.
- Optimized management.
- Automated staffing regulation.
- Interconnecting the healthcare supply chain
What is a Blockchain Healthcare Ecosystem?
Blockchain-backed Healthcare Ecosystem is a holistic environment that allows multiple healthcare facilities to achieve cross-functionality. It promotes harmony among several medical institutions such as hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and the management. Built to improve the standard of treatment, this healthcare ecosystem ensures that quality services are delivered to patients across the globe.
- Patient Data Management
By integrating the blockchain into healthcare institutions’ databases, we can achieve seamless patient data management. From ease of access to protected maintenance, blockchain offers efficient features to store, protect, and access patient’s records. These records are maintained in a secure setup and each patient holds control over his/her medical information. Information stored on the blockchain network can be accessed from across the globe.
- Payments
Blockchain-based healthcare ecosystem allows a multitude of payment methods. Patients can either pay in cryptocurrencies or fiat money. Payments made are fast, secure, and permanently recorded for future references.
- Insurance
Medical insurance claims are simplified within this ecosystem. . By the use of Smart Contracts, the claims can be settled quickly. Since the insurance data are stored on blockchain, patients can instantly apply for claims, which would take several days in the traditional system.
- Healthcare Supply Chain
The healthcare supply chain is one of the biggest global industries. Blockchain ensures smooth tracking; direct acquisition of the medical supplies, equipment, and services, quality control, and prevention of counterfeit drugs from entering the stores. By overseeing supply chain transactions and services, the healthcare ecosystem guarantees healthier relationships among medical institutions, manufacturing industries, and consumers.
- Identify Fake Drugs
This ecosystem offers superior protection against counterfeit drugs. Blockchain quality control is implemented by scrutinizing the origin, quality, and standard of the drugs. They are verified by multiple nodes within the blockchain ecosystem via digital attestation and authentication. Every medicine undergoes multiple stages of verification before entering circulation, thereby paving the way for detecting and removing fake drugs.
- Clinical Trials
Blockchain-based clinical trials are secure, transparent, and permanently recorded. They record and protect vital healthcare information for research and analysis. The blockchain healthcare ecosystem can serve sustainable medical research and advanced drug development projects by conducting multiple stages of clinical trials.
How do we Build a Blockchain Healthcare Ecosystem?
The development of blockchain-based healthcare ecosystems is multifold.
Development involves creating a roadmap, setting objectives, developing the front end of design and structure, programming the code to establish logic and functionality, and choosing APIs that execute requests.
- Design:
The ecosystem’s design must incorporate a steady and seamless flow of data across multiple systems. The layout must accommodate patients’ information processing and the related medical services.. Thus designing the structure of the ecosystem needs to align with the type of blockchain to be deployed.
There exist three types of blockchains: Public, Private, and Consortium.
- Public blockchains allow all users to access the blocks and add data to them.
- Private blockchains are centralized and only a group of authorized users can access the network.
- Consortium blockchains are hybrid versions in which multiple organizations become active participants.
- Feasibility:
The feasibility of the healthcare ecosystem is determined by checking the compatibility of different elements. They offer insight on sourcing the right sectors to be a part of the network and provide clarity in development.
Feasibility methods vary when the blockchain deployment has a private or government undertaking. Private owned blockchains are often undertaken for a business venture. Blockchain projects undertaken by government bodies are related to civil services, thus require a higher level of scrutiny.
- Integration:
Identifying the sources of information, actions, and resultant services that contribute towards effective patient treatment is the key. By acknowledging their roles in the ecosystem, they can be integrated as separate modules that function independently for a single objective. Modules can be incorporated by choosing the right APIs .
Scalability is one of the primary attributes of blockchain. The modules can be integrated either when the ecosystem is developed from scratch or even after it is developed completely.
How Healthcare Ecosystems could have helped with the COVID-19 Pandemic:
The COVID-19 situation took the world by surprise. The predicaments were severe owing to the lack of proper healthcare ecosystems. Experts say that if reliable medical facilities were in place, they could have delayed the spread and offered better treatment.
Why would we want to deploy a healthcare ecosystem? One might ask! There exist several benefits and let’s discuss them.
Building an ecosystem on the blockchain incorporates information from websites, medical institutions such as hospitals, clinics, and laboratories. Thus, governments across the globe would be able to facilitate the following healthcare services promptly.
- Identifying the Affected
Blockchain helps with digital identity management. By creating an identification system, it would have become easy for the authorities to identify the infected persons and isolate them quickly.
- Truth about the Patients' Conditions
Recording patients’ health data can help with both diagnosis and treatment for the symptoms of the virus. People who have been tested negative can also avail safe passage without the hassle of getting tested all over again.
Moreover, there would have not been false information regarding the total cases, active & recovered cases in a particular region, and other data.
- Easy to Quarantine
On the contrary, people who have been tested positive can be isolated in the quarantine centres for treatment.
- Home Quarantine and Recovery Tracking
The governments could have reduced costs by home quarantining selective patients. The isolateds’ health conditions can also be monitored effectively.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, Blockchain Healthcare Ecosystems possess immense within the Healthcare industry. They are a feasible prospect that can be achieved through structural planning and development. By implementing a decentralized ecosystem that allows interoperability between several sectors of the healthcare industry, we can achieve reliable and quality healthcare services. In the wake of the COVID19, we realized the importance and how it could have been handled better, given functional healthcare ecosystems existed.
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