By Kapil Rajyaguru
Blockchain is a revolutionary technology useful to provide pioneering solutions in various sectors, including healthcare.
A blockchain network can be used in the healthcare system to preserve, protect and exchange patient records between hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and healthcare professionals.
Moreover, blockchain can guarantee the discretion of patient records.
Today the need of the hour is to provide excellent health facilities with greater speed and supported by advanced and newer technologies. Here, blockchain would play a pivotal role in transforming the entire healthcare sector towards more patient-centric system.
On a daily basis, worldwide millions of patients funnel in and out healthcare centers, creating unsurmountable task of digitizing and sharing medical records, tracking prescription drugs and other medical goods in the supply chain and delivery. Hence, to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems blockchain technology is applied.
Here are top 3 blockchain applications used in the healthcare sector
1. Supply Chain
One of the key challenges in the healthcare sector is ensuring the authenticity of medical goods and curb the insurgence of counterfeit medical products by bad actors. Blockchain technology enables you to track items from the manufacturing point and at each step through the supply chains, enabling end users to have full visibility and transparency of medical items they are buying. MediLedger is a leading example of a blockchain protocol that enables companies across the prescription drug supply chain to verify the authenticity of medicines, as well as expiry dates and other important information.
2. Digital Health Records
Globally one of the leading causes of death is medical errors resulting from poorly coordinated care because of disorganized patient records. One promising solution for this malady is to create a blockchain-based decentralized system for medical records that can be connected into existing electronic medical record software and act as overarching, single view of a patient’s record. So, every time there is a change in patient record, it is logged on the blockchain as a transaction. Medicalchain is a leading example of a company working with healthcare providers to implement blockchain enabled EMRs.
3. Medical Staff Identity Verification
Just like tracking the authenticity of medical items in supply chain, blockchain technology can be used to track the experience of medical professionals, where trusted medical institutions and healthcare organisations can log the credentials of their staff, in turn helping to streamline the hiring process for healthcare organisations.US based ProCredEx has developed such a medical credential verification system using the R3 Corda blockchain protocol.Apart from these, blockchain technology can also be used in execution of smart contracts for medical insurance companies and carry out effective supply chain settlements among others.
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