Does Blockchain Tech Have a Future in Health Care?

Since the rise of the blockchain in the late 2000s, its applications have grown across different industries. From entertainment to sports and even healthcare. But how does this technology fit into the healthcare sector? Does it have a future in healthcare?

Blockchain can solve healthcare issues 

Besides helping the best bitcoin casino run smoothly, some experts believe that blockchain can solve a myriad of problems the healthcare industry faces. Some of the most important problems include the cost of care and continuity of care. Let’s examine how these issues can affect patients and healthcare providers.

Data fragmentation 

Patient data is not unified in the current healthcare administration system. This is because it is stored in various facilities, and when patients are not close to their primary healthcare provider, the doctors have no access to their medical records. This can reduce a patient’s chance of surviving a life-threatening illness since time is of the essence. 

According to reports from the World Economic Forum, hospitals generate around 50 petabytes of data in the healthcare system per year, but most of this data is isolated. The blockchain helps bridge this gap by creating a unified ledger that allows healthcare providers to access patient history while maintaining privacy regulations. 

Payment processing 

The healthcare payment system currently faces challenges with payment processing. Since payments go through multiple intermediaries before reaching the right source, they can take a longer time to process. Besides the slow processing time, the healthcare system also struggles with high administrative costs for payments, which affect patients more.

What about other errors that could delay the process? Healthcare systems also face coding errors, which also delay payments and can worsen health problems of patients. The blockchain can automate the entire process to shorten the wait times. It can do this through smart contracts that verify payments and reduce the need for human intervention. 

Security and privacy 

Despite the strong privacy laws in healthcare, it is still an issue. Healthcare organisations that use modern technology to store data are required to comply with privacy laws. These organisations also have to deal with cybersecurity concerns because if patient records are leaked, it will not just breach their privacy but also be a security issue. Insurance fraud and theft can arise from third parties getting access to patient records.

Blockchain has cryptographic features that help solve this problem. It is immutable, and its audit trails help health organisations comply with privacy regulations while ensuring the safety of patients’ data. Smart contracts also come in handy here to automate the process of controlling who has access and keeping records of those with access to the patient’s data.

Data quality 

Another problem that healthcare organisations today face is data quality. Without a standardised system of recordkeeping, patient records could contain errors. These errors can result in inappropriate treatment, and some patients may even be misdiagnosed. Delay in receiving treatment can be the difference between life and death for many patients.

As mentioned earlier, the blockchain is immutable, making it a perfect tool for holding verified patient records. Since the blockchain is publicly accessible, providers could easily assess the data and improve care coordination.

Blockchain adoption in healthcare 

Currently, blockchain technology is being adopted in healthcare to improve interoperability and ensure efficiency in administrative tasks. Between 2018 and 2021, the blockchain market in healthcare grew by 55%. Experts believe that adopting blockchain technology in the healthcare industry could save more than $150 billion per year.

These costs are related to operations, data breaches, IT support functions, and even fraud reduction. The technology in the healthcare scene operates as a decentralised ledger. This ledger tracks all assets and transactions, including medical charts of patients or medications. The blockchain also distributes information, creating a linked system controlled by digital signatures.

Since blockchain offers so many benefits for the healthcare industry, why has it not been widely adopted? Well, due to complex stakeholder relationships, regulations, and deeply entrenched legacy systems, it is difficult for this technology to have a wider use case.

There’s also a problem with the initial cost of implementation. While the technology may save some money, it requires a huge investment to kickstart, and many healthcare organisations do not have this.

However, this technology is already used to secure patient records with smart contracts and maintain compliance with privacy regulations. Besides securing patient records, the blockchain has also been used to solve the issues with pharmaceutical supply chains. It does this by ensuring the proper handling of drugs and their authenticity. 

Blockchain technology can still be used in other sectors of the healthcare industry. One is claims processing using smart contracts. This could reduce administrative tasks associated with insurance claims verification and processing. It can also provide real-time claim status tracking to keep patients at ease and improve transparency.

Security has been a major point for this technology, and it can offer more secure health information exchanges. While the blockchain is already used to keep health information secure, it can do better by giving patients the option to control who has access to their records.

What about clinical research? The blockchain can also be used to ensure the integrity of data from clinical research. Using smart contracts, the technology can automate the entire process and streamline patient consent. There’s so much more technology to offer in this sector.

Blockchain technology has been proven to address challenges of security, efficiency, and interoperability. In the future, it could be used for other tasks, such as clinical trials and pharmaceutical supply chain issues. However, it may be a while before this technology reaches worldwide adoption in the healthcare industry. Initial costs of implementation hinder the possibility of this happening. There’s also the problem of legacy systems and compliance issues. Regardless of these issues, blockchain technology will have a future in healthcare as it has penetrated several other industries. Its immutability and transparency are the main factors that will drive its adoption in the future.

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