10 Ways How Blockchain Is Reviving Healthcare

Healthcare will soon consume 20% of the U.S. economy. Those statistics alone are unsettling, but consider the industry’s constant data breaches, inefficiency, and skyrocketing hospital costs. Efficiencies and innovations are being sought in response to these (very expensive) problems and Blockchain can transform global scrutiny of healthcare to the acme of social clearance and successful medical schemes. May it be electronic health care records to production monitoring, faster data trial processes to better data security, Blockchain can handle them all. In healthcare, this may help ease the pain of the current spending bubble, protect patient data, and improve the overall patient experience. In addition to securely encrypting patient data, the technology is also used to manage the outbreak of harmful diseases.

How Blockchain technology has enhanced the healthcare industry?

Re-inventing traditional healthcare models

Blockchain has the potential to spur innovation in community-based healthcare approaches and preventive medicine. The ability of distributed ledger technology to ensure the integrity of the data exchanged between the parties ensures collaboration between growing healthcare trends that are important for improving the health of communities worldwide. Blockchain provides a seamless connection enhanced by smart contracts and approvals to access all electronic health records. Its transaction layer can provide immediate access to a variety of standardized, anonymous, non-patient identifiable information. 

Enhanced Security

Data about patients is particularly sensitive and private, which is why healthcare institutions spend a great deal of time and money on data security. Due to the loss of data, clients and consumers lose trust in the organization as a whole, which is unable to guarantee data protection to them. One of the most important characteristics of blockchain is its degree of data security and privacy. If a system is built that allows only concerned parties to access and extract data, security in the healthcare industry will be effective and lasting. Blockchain helps this as it uses encryption.

Improved Privacy

Blockchain technology improves the average person’s privacy, especially if their personal “key” code is required to access records. Furthermore, because of the block structure, administrative users can only alter entries to which they have been granted access – the total records of the chain remain protected. Not only are these technologies important to business and the economy, but also to public health and global population safety in the future.

More Control for Personal Records

Stigmatized issues and how they affect patients seeking treatment have long been a source of concern in public health. Patients have some control over their records because blockchain records enable privacy and security, and their information cannot be shared between professionals without their permission. Patient anonymity can be considerably more successfully safeguarded, allowing them to seek healthcare assistance more quietly. 

Better accessibility

An effective database network for health data storage enables patients to use their own passwords to access their records at a variety of medical offices and hospitals so that accurate data can be kept without the use of vulnerable documents. Both individual patients and larger groups of individuals benefit from unified data systems in terms of improved individual and social health, as patterns and illnesses can be discovered more quickly.

Highly Organized Data

In an industry where record-keeping is crucial, it’s no surprise that healthcare is drowning in data management. Not only is it difficult to achieve data consistency among personnel, much alone facilities, but even with the finest protocols, human error is inherent. User error in the medical industry can have disastrous repercussions for both individual patients and big societies. While blockchain technology aids in the organization of hospitals and clinics, it also benefits patients by ensuring that their documentation, such as prescriptions and invoicing, is well-managed.

Bringing down costs by eliminating human errors

Medical specialist miscommunication costs the healthcare business $11 billion per year. It takes time to access a patient’s medical records, which depletes staff resources and causes delays in patient care. The usage of blockchain-based medical records may be able to help with these issues. The technology’s decentralized structure generates a single ecosystem of patient data that doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, and anybody else involved in therapy may simply access. In this regard, the blockchain can aid in the acceleration of diagnosis and individualized care regimens.

Safe and Traceable Medicines

Issues like tampered medicines and non-trustworthy sources preoccupy the medical supply chain as well as the relationship between the laboratory and the marketplace. The decentralization of blockchain allows for complete transparency in the shipping process, which has important implications for pharmaceutical supply chain management. The site of origin will be indicated once a drug ledger is produced (i.e., a laboratory). The ledger will then keep track of who handled it and where it went until it reaches the consumer. Furthermore, the device can track labor expenditures and waste emissions.

Reduced Drug Forgery

Despite numerous regulations and constraints in the system, drug counterfeiting is still a major problem in healthcare. The use of blockchain to regulate the supply of pharmaceuticals in the medical system is both revolutionary and practical. Using blockchain technology, pharmaceutical tracking from manufacturing stages to market distribution of products prescribed for consumption can be made impermeable and safe, helping to combat current fraud.

Promising advancements in genomics

What was once a dream of the future of human health is now a scientific and financial reality. The first draft of the human genome was published 20 years ago in 2001, took nearly three years, and cost between US$500 million and $1 billion. These days, DNA tests cost about $1,000, and services like 23andMe and Ancestry.com have brought them to millions of homes. Blockchain is the perfect solution for this growing industry as it can securely store trillions of genetic data points. People are even able to buy and sell encrypted genetic information to develop a big database, allowing scientists to collect valuable data faster than ever before.