A brief guide on blockchain technology in the healthcare ecosystem

Blockchain technology records all online data transactions. All these records are shared among the network peers, the users authorized to that network can add the record of the transaction. The database is located in a decentralized network. It maintains and manages the record transactions in a secured manner through cryptography, which has to be approved and verified by the network, and this process is called mining. 

In this blog, let’s explore the benefits of implementing blockchain in healthcare sector in brief!

Blockchain in healthcare

Blockchain technology can transform the healthcare sector by placing the patient at the center of the healthcare ecosystem and increasing the security, privacy, and interoperability of the health records.

This technology also provides an advanced feature for exchanging health information like electronic medical reports which is more efficient, secure, and disintermediate.

Now, let us know about some of the benefits you gain from blockchain technology in healthcare. 

Benefits  of blockchain 

Health insurance

Blockchain technology has enhanced many features in the insurance system by eliminating all unnecessary intermediates. This made the health sector and patient to put in less effort, easier processing when compared to traditional insurance systems.

The smart contracts perform these insurance operations. If a patient opts for a medical insurance policy using a smart contract, all the details will be stored in the patient’s profile on the blockchain ledger, and that is less prone to hacking than the traditional database. 

This method ultimately eliminates the time needed to file an insurance claim. If a patient claims insurance, the smart contract will be triggered automatically, and the money will be transferred directly from the payer to the hospital.

Medical record interoperability

Blockchain technology is suggested for storing all the records in the digital ledger, which makes it rigid and immutable. The medical records of the patients are stored in the digital ledger. In this setup, the patient can easily change doctors and hospitals without the need to transfer their medical records and need not undergo many procedures to recover data. 

Apparently, the patient can walk into any clinic or hospital of his choice and grant that health organization access to the medical records by entering the private key.

Telehealth solutions

It basically allows the medical practitioner or physician to directly reach out to patients through digital devices like smartphones and the internet of medical things. 

Using these telehealth solutions, the physicians can stream and process the real-time data from patients’ sensors. The smart contracts can be implemented in a private blockchain to analyze, aggregate, and share the data securely and reliably. 

Conclusion

It is for sure that blockchain technology shapes the future by creating unique opportunities to reduce complexity, enable trustless collaborations, and create secure and immutable information. The only issue now is getting all healthcare providers to adopt blockchain systems, and once the mass adoption occurs, it will catalyze the improvement of the entire healthcare ecosystem.