10 Facts About Blockchain Technology

A technology that is new on today’s date can turn old in just a few months. Technology evolution has taken place in a speedy manner in the last few years. But there is a technology that has actually set a benchmark. It is the upcoming big thing after the World Wide Web. This is Blockchain technology. Since its inception in 2018, people carry a lot of misconceptions about it. People also carry weird notions about how a Blockchain app development company works. So here we are accumulating some important facts about this new-age technology in this content.

Knowhow is important

  • Use-cases – To understand blockchain, gaining deep insight about Blockchain technology objectives is important. A blockchain can be private, permissioned or public. We can understand this well from Facebook’s Libra. Libra is based on Libra blockchain, its control is in the hands of the Libra Association. The association includes Facebook & the member companies. They do not intend to operate Libra like Bitcoin which is a non-profit cryptocurrency.

Blockchain becomes versatile with this customization. This means it will incorporate non-fintech applications also. Few applications include keeping medical records, tracking smooth goods flow, etc.

  • Satoshi Nakamoto – The successful implementation of blockchain technology lies in the hands of Satoshi Nakamoto. He is the Bitcoin creator. But before implementing blockchain technology for small business, you might want to learn some interesting facts. Nobody is aware of the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. People suspect that he is of the Japanese-American origin from the famous Temple City.
  • Emphasis on official crypto development – Governments are now overcoming the initial skepticism regarding blockchain technology potential. As a matter of fact, they are realizing how beneficial crypto is. Launching crypto is easier compared to physical currencies. These are safe & environment friendly. Also in comparison to minting currencies, these are cost-effective. In the current times, there are more than 15 countries like the USA, Japan, UK, and Saudi Arabia who are very interested in introducing their own official crypto.
  • No more middleman’s game – Data is saved across users or nodes and not at a single place. This is in context to Blockchain. Features of blockchain technology include using DLT or distributed ledger technology. Almost every blockchain application is pinned on this technology. As a result every user or node remains side by side throughout the various developments. Recording transactions takes place in the shape of blocks. These are then added after a validation & verification procedure. The procedure is implemented via Proof-of Work or Proof-of-Stake. Altering or removing blocks after adding is impossible which means blockchain is secure.

Due to this, there is no requirement for third-party auditors. No one can tamper with the data.

  • Population utilizing blockchain – The popularity of cryptocurrency blockchain technology is ever-increasing. But just a handful of the entire world’s population is currently utilizing this technology. The figure stands approximately 40 million people. However, as per few market surveys, the figure will boost to more than 80 percent in the upcoming ten years.
  • Ever-growing market size – Blockchain statistics seem very promising right now. As per the International Data Corporation, blockchain spending is anticipated to hike throughout the period of 2018-2023. There will be a 5 year compound annual growth rate of approximately 60.2%. The banking industry leads the spending. It will account for more than 30% of the entire global spending. In India as well, the blockchain market will bloom. The blockchain market will enhance to a value of approximately $7.59 billion by the year of 2024.
  • Blockchain assisting with medical record management – The prospects of healthcare blockchain technology is also quite promising. The current methods of medical record keeping can undergo changes. This change is due to the distributed ledger technology of blockchain technology medical records. Medical records are spread across numerous medical organizations. Blockchain technology makes the procedures easier for patients. A patient can receive hands-on reports and he doesn’t even need to visit the doctor’s office.
  • Boost to IoT market – These facts about blockchain technology are truly mesmerizing. As more industries employ this technology in upcoming times, there will also be a boost in the Internet of Things applications. Its use will be visible through household devices & vehicles. So it is anticipated that by the year of 2020, the industry will boost by approximately $50.
  • NGOs accepting cryptos – The advantages of blockchain technology for NGOs are many as well. Cryptos are now considered as a valid currency for disbursement. NGOs & charities are accepting cryptos as donations these days.
  • Food supply chain – Few big players of the market are currently using best blockchain technology for detecting food products that have undergone contamination. This process earlier took several weeks to complete but as you use blockchain technology, it can be finished in a few seconds.

Final Say

Legacy systems will soon turn faster & better due to increased use of blockchain safe wallet. Blockchain is all set to grow approximately by $176 Bn by the year of 2025. This exponential growth shows how promising the industry is. Hence, associate with a sound Blockchain app development company today. To know more, connect with us.

 

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Should drug rehabilitation centers use blockchain technology?

Drug rehabs often integrate a myriad of high-quality pieces of technology that help make their job much more comfortable. However, many facilities may not be aware of the ways that blockchain can transform their community. This revolutionary piece of new technology can help to make it much easier to track a large variety of different elements connected to addiction recovery and rehab.

Do Drug Rehab Centers Use Blockchain?

Blockchain, for those who don’t know, is a shared ledger that can be used to share many types of information. First of all, it helps record many kinds of transactions and tracks assets. The fact that only people with the proper information can use it makes a blockchain a very secure option for many businesses. But do rehab centers use this technology to protect their clients?

Throughout research into this topic, it was hard to find any absolute proof that rehab centers used blockchain. There were no statistics on the number of centers using it or anything like that available. As a result, it is hard to gauge whether or not they are using it right now. An educated guess would estimate that only a handful of centers are probably using blockchain right now, though this could be inaccurate.

That said, this guess is based on a few factors. First of all, the inarguable lack of written information on this topic. If there were more rehab centers using blockchain, surely this trend would be noted? Secondly, blockchain is often perceived primarily as a way of protecting financial data. As a result, some facilities may not understand the many benefits that it provides.

A Growing Number of Groups Use Blockchain

If rehab centers are not using blockchain, they may be part of a rapidly decreasing group. As blockchain becomes more prominent, a growing number of businesses and governments are using it. For example, governments like China, Russia, and Canada are using blockchain to track many different elements. These include their weapon production and the spread of Bitcoin manufacture.

The US Government is also examining the benefits that it could provide for its operation. It is mostly interested in protecting public records, gauging budget allocation, and monitoring supply chains throughout the nation. Though not heavily adopted yet, many specialists believe that the US could quickly become a significant stronghold for blockchain activities throughout the world.

The reasons for this consideration are numerous. First of all, the level of information transparency would be high. After all, only a handful of people could even access the information. Data immutability is also crucial because it would be tough, if not impossible, to hack these systems. However, does all this mean that rehab centers should seriously invest in blockchain?

Should Rehab Centers Use Blockchain?

The potential benefits of blockchain make it an excellent option for drug rehab. For example, one study found that blockchain could help facilities and its clients track success rates. In this way, it would be easier for a treatment center to know what options worked for each person. Just as importantly, all of this data would be safe and protected from hacking or other types of misuse.

However, there are many other possible benefits that blockchain could offer. For example, medical facilities and rehab centers could use blockchain to restrict access to dangerous drugs. This method could be used to track the substances in a facility and to alert authorities when it gets low. In this way, it could be possible to eliminate the dangers of drug thefts and other issues that fuel rehab issues.

Just as importantly, blockchain could create a unique peer-to-peer accountability system for those in recovery. Many treatment options succeed when recovering individuals create a support system. The group that they form could stay in touch using blockchain connections. These private settings could make recovery smoother and more comfortable for them to handle.

Are there any downsides to blockchain in rehab centers? The biggest is the potential cost. Many centers don’t have a lot of cash to throw around and may not have the money for this type of system. And success often relies on the self-motivation of those struggling to recover. Those who lack that kind of self-directed skill may struggle to use blockchain for drug treatment.

The Possibilities Could Be Vast

While there are definite limitations that could occur when using blockchain, the many benefits that it provides far outweigh the few cons. As a result, drug rehab centers may want to consider integrating this system into their daily operation. Doing so could help their clients – and their counselors – transform the treatment process and make it smoother and more comfortable to handle for all involved.

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How Blockchain and AI Are Being Used in the Fight Against Covid19

In a world radically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the globe are doing what they can to help. In particular, several organizations are using blockchain technology to aid in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. We present an overview of a number of these blockchain projects here.

Alipay

Alipay, a third-party online and mobile payment platform that was founded in China in 2004 has begun using blockchain technology to aid in the fight against coronavirus. Alipay is using the Ant blockchain to provide an online information platform. The Ant-based platform enables citizens to learn prevention habits and receive reliable information by sharing materials related to COVID-19 through mobile apps.

The Alipay initiative uses the Ant blockchain technology to ensure that the information shared is authenticated and approved, thus eliminating the possibility of its being tampered with. This prevents the spread of false coronavirus information.

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Joseph Yong, Head of Investor Relations
  • Liu Hongwei, CTO

URL: https://intl.alipay.com

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight:

provides an online platform from which people can learn good prevention habits; also enables the secure sharing of COVID-19 related information and materials through mobile apps

ANSA

ANSA, the leading news agency in Italy, has implemented a news tracking system called ANSAcheck which is powered by blockchain technology to stop the spread of fake news and engender greater trust between the news and its readers.

Fake news regarding coronavirus poses a distinct threat to the health, safety, and well-being of people around the globe. ANSAcheck, which was developed in collaboration with Ernst & Young and is based on the Ethereum blockchain, will enable its users to verify the history and origin of the news which is published on its platforms as well as that of third parties (like social media). Verified news will get a label that says “Notizia d’origine certificata” (“News of Certified Origin”). ANSAcheck implements smart contract technology by giving a news article digital representation and generating a cryptographic string.

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Stefano de Alessandri, ANSA CEO
  • Ernst & Young

URL: https://www.ansa.it/sito/static/ansa_check.html

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight: ANSAcheck will stop the spread of fake coronavirus news (which can threaten the health and safety of people all over the earth) by allowing users to verify the history and origin of news articles, including those published on social media

BitMED

BitMED, a telehealth company which was founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas by Dr. Rishi Madhok (CEO) and Bo Vargas (CTO), announced recently that it, in conjunction with Ard Holdings, a financial group, will be introducing a free telehealthcare service to residents of Central Asia and Mongolia, regions in which there is a grievous lack of access to proper and adequate healthcare services.

Telemedicine can help cut costs for both the patients as well as the healthcare providers and enable those who most need healthcare but are least financially able to get it to receive adequate care at a low cost or for free. The main concern with telemedicine is that the patient data needs to be protected from any potential breach. This can be solved by using secure blockchain technology.

Through a platform built on the BXM token, BitMED seeks to offer free telemedicine to underserved areas such as Central Asia and Mongolia (the company already offers such healthcare services in Rwanda and the United States).

BitMED offers personalized, incentivized, and global healthcare services through a platform, which leverages real doctors in real-time with technologies such as blockchain and AI (artificial intelligence). This healthcare solution offers both the doctors to staff the online platform as well as the software. Members can gain access to medical consultation, engage in community health discussions, and receive validated content from any tablet, phone, or computer anywhere in the world.

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Rishi Madhok, CEO
  • Bo Vargas, CTO

URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitmed

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight: they offer access to free blockchain-based telemedicine services to those in Central Asia and Mongolia (in addition to the Rwanda and the United States) to promote better care delivery, increase the capacity of the healthcare system, and optimize the utilization of existing infrastructure for healthcare

BurstIQ

BurstIQ, which is a leader in providing data solutions based on the blockchain technology for the healthcare industry, recently announced the founding of Research Foundry, which is a global coalition of entrepreneurs and enterprises collaborating to solve health challenges on a global scale, beginning with COVID-19. This initiative combines researchers, large enterprises, public health agencies, and innovators with the secure connectivity and data management platform offered by BurstIQ to enable greater collaboration and the secure sharing of data to accelerate the discovery of solutions.

Research Foundry will provide unified access to aggregated and independent datasets from all over the earth, as well as providing organizations with a method of sharing data directly without losing control over that data, of forming groups which will work to tackle particular problems, and of building solutions that are collectively developed and in which the contributions of each participant are auditable and verifiable.

Frank Ricotta, BurstIQ’s founder, and CEO states, “We know that collaboration exponentially advances human knowledge.” Research Foundry offers a framework to make those collaborations more secure and easier to accelerate the process of finding solutions for the COVID-19 crisis.

Project Name: Research Foundry

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Frank Ricotta, Co-Founder & CEO

URL: https://www.burstiq.com/research-foundry/

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight:

since innovation and research are significantly accelerated through crowd intelligence and collaboration but participants in the collaboration need to be able to trust that their contributions to the project will stay secure and under their control, BurstIQ’s Research Foundry offers the framework for this to happen, enabling members of the coalition to collaborate while maintaining control, ownership, and the verifiable intellectual property rights to their contributions.

Emerge

Emerge, a Toronto-based blockchain start-up has developed Civitas, a public safety system app intended to help local authorities in various nations. This app has been designed to “…to improve safety and cut store wait times by reducing gatherings in tight spaces, reducing the probability of contagion,” according to an Emerge blog post.

The program can associate the government ID numbers of locals with unique blockchain records, enabling local authorities to check if the residents qualify for permits which would allow them to leave their residences. Citizens who report experiencing COVID-19 symptoms could be helped by the app to know the days on which it is safest for them to leave their homes to shop for necessities such as medicine and food.

Project Name: Civitas

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Lucia Gallardo, CEO

URL:  http://www.emergedev.co

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight:

Civitas links blockchain records with citizens’ government ID numbers to allow officials to issue permits for them to leave their homes during the COVID-19 lockdown and to know when it is safest for them to go to the store for essentials; this reduces store wait times and limits the gathering of people in tight spaces; Civitas will be rolled out to 25,000 Hondurans who are under lockdown due to confirmed COVID-19 cases

Infermedica

Infermedica is a Polish medical technology company, which generates solutions by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology to guide patients to the care that they need by making the process of pre-diagnosing, triaging, and connecting patients with the necessary medical services significantly easier.

Infermedica allows the healthcare industry, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance to improve the flow of patients, increase efficiency, and reduce costs by combining the experience of real doctors and the power of Infermedica’s AI algorithms to generate solutions. Its apps have been made available in 17 different languages, with more coming soon.

Infermedica released a COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool to aid in the fight against coronavirus. This Risk Assessment Tool takes a three-pronged approach, allowing both individuals and communities to benefit: 1) Infermedica has extended the functionality of its flagship symptom checking app, Symptomate, to be able to check for coronavirus related symptoms and assist patients with COVID-19 related concerns. 2) Journalists, health organizations, clinics, and NGOs may embed the COVID-19 Risk Assessment tool on their websites to promote awareness and keep the disease from spreading. 3) The COVID-19 Risk Assessment API is freely available forever for anyone to utilize it to help stop the virus from spreading.

The COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool has recently been implemented by the Polish Ministry of Health to allow the 38 million people in Poland to identify coronavirus symptoms quickly and receive reliable recommendations.

Project Name: COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Piotr Orzechowski, Founder & CEO

URL: https://infermedica.com/covid19

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight:

This COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool is a set of solutions intended to quickly identify symptoms of the coronavirus and to obtain reliable information about COVID-19, including an embeddable Risk Assessment Tool, a Risk Assessment API, and a revamped version of Symptomate to offer free COVID-19 checkups; the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool was implemented on April 8, 2020, by the Polish Ministry of Health to offer COVID-19 symptom checking and assistance to all 38 million residents of Poland.

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) has teamed up with Hacera, an enterprise blockchain startup, and other tech companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle to develop MiPasa, a new blockchain platform to aid with analytics and data aggregation for COVID-19.

MiPasa is built on Hyperledger Fabric, and it is designed to be “fully private” to allow “need-to-know” organizations such as health officials and state authorities to share information. MiPasa will help to identify virus hotspots and carriers and will hopefully aid in the early detection of the virus.

MiPasa will serve as an “information highway” to cross-reference health information with siloed location data, all while protecting patient privacy and helping to monitor trends locally and globally, allowing governments, health officials, and health organizations to respond swiftly and accurately to stop the spread of this virus while safeguarding the privacy of individual patients

Project: MiPassa

Leadership and/or Organization Stakeholders:

  • Jonathan Levi (Hacera CEO)
  • IBM
  • Microsoft
  • Oracle
  • WHO
  • CD
  • Johns Hopkins University

URL: https://mipasa.org

Most significant contribution to COVID-19 fight:

MiPasa will serve as an “information highway” to securely cross-reference health information with location data to identify virus hotspots and carriers and to aid in the early detection of the virus, allowing governments, health officials, and health organizations to respond swiftly, knowledgeably, and accurately to stop the spread of the virus while safeguarding the privacy of individual patients with blockchain technology.

From the author:

Despite the horror and dysfunction this pandemic has brought upon the world, there are those that are stepping up to meet this challenging time head on. It’s unfortunate that there are those taking advantage of the situation, but that’s human nature. The important thing to remember is that this trying time is bringing out the good in humanity as well.

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Upheaval partners with Naturally Chiropractic for Proof-of-Concept implementation of the Weave enterprise blockchain technology

LAKE STEVENS, WA: Upheaval LLC, innovators of patent-pending blockchain technology the Weave, today announced a strategic partnership with Chiropractic clinic Naturally Chiropractic Family Wellness Center. With the partnership, Upheaval will create a Proof-of-Concept implementation of the Weave, and demonstrate how its unique blockchain technology can secure and streamline healthcare processes for the clinic, their billing processes and reporting, and for their patients.

“We’re designing and building the Weave for a massive global scale. That begins with listening to customers who will use it every day, and clearly understanding how it will make their lives better,” said David Iseminger, Upheaval’s CEO. “With a close customer partnership during these early design and development phases, we can quickly iterate to ensure a customer-centric implementation. It enables us to be extremely agile and responsive, and to guide our customers to where they want to be – in a better place, with innovative technology that helps their businesses be more effective, and thrive.”

Part of the strategic partnership includes refining a handheld app for patients, that provides better insights to their care, in ways that are more accessible to them, and portable. “We want patients, and people, to have access and control over their medical history. When they move, their records should easily move with them.” 

“We’re excited about the partnership,” said Dr. Nicole Morin, co-owner of Naturally Chiropractic. “There’s a whole host of benefits that the Weave’s blockchain software could bring, including securing and streamlining paperwork. I spend as much as 20% of my time in administrative work, even with the software systems we currently have. That time would be better spent with patients.” Dr. Dan Morin, also co-owner, added, “Patients would really benefit from having access to the services we’ve provided, and what they can do at home to enhance their health and healing. Connecting our services with an app that patients could securely access would help the partnership between patient and provider, and the results that come from that successful partnership.” 

“We believe the Weave can deliver on the promise of blockchain for healthcare, with a solution that’s secure yet accessible, immensely scalable, and high performing,” said David Iseminger, Upheaval’s CEO. “By understanding in-the-moment patient and doctor interactions, insurance billing, government oversight, and how patients would best use our app for their records, we ensure that scalability to large offices and corporations is grounded in real customer needs, in real-life activities.” 

With the partnership, Upheaval and Naturally Chiropractic will partner to deliver a blockchain solution that integrates with their existing systems, streamlines their processes, elevates their patients’ wellness, and delivers big data analytics. As the Weave scales to other clinics, large providers, and global healthcare solutions, subscribers to the Weave will realize a better healthcare experience, for their organization and for their patients. 

About Naturally Chiropractic

Naturally Chiropractic is a family-owned wellness center located in Lake Stevens, WA. Dr. Dan Morin and Dr. Nicole Morin believe that everyone deserves to be healthy for a lifetime – why would you and your family live with anything less? Their goal is to unleash possibilities, one adjustment at a time, and have served Lake Stevens and the surrounding communities for two decades. 

Learn more about Naturally Chiropractic, visit – http://www.naturallychiropractic.net/

About Upheaval

Upheaval creates innovative software solutions, including the patent-pending Weave blockchain environment, that elevate and transform industries. With the Weave, organizations connect real-time, real-world interactions and create network effects that empower every participant. 

To learn more about Upheaval and the Weave, visit: http://theweave.io

 

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Upheaval and RebelDot announce strategic partnership for Weave enterprise blockchain technology

SEATTLE, WA: Upheaval LLC, innovators of patent-pending blockchain technology the Weave, today announced a strategic partnership with well-established and ISO certified software development company RebelDot, to develop, integrate, and bring to market the Weave blockchain, with global reach and scale.

As a result of this strategic partnership, healthcare and other organizations across the world can soon get subscriptions to the Weave, and in doing, integrate their existing digital systems with a robust blockchain technology that scales, protects, cures over time, and regenerates. The Weave’s unique shared-block, multiple-blockchain technology creates a holistic online environment that allows any organization with an Internet connection get a subscription. Access for individuals, including a secure mobile app to track personal health records, is free. The Weave brings the power of network effects, and in-place blockchain integrations to healthcare participants such as insurers, providers, pharmacies, drug makers, and devices.

“We believe the Weave can deliver on the promise of blockchain for healthcare, with a solution that’s secure yet accessible, immensely scalable, and high performing,” said David Iseminger, Upheaval’s CEO.

“With RebelDot’s development experience, blockchain expertise and systems integration knowledge, this partnership amplifies the offerings of each of our companies. It’s a win for our future customers.”

“The Weave has unique technical structure, especially as an enterprise blockchain,” said Tudor Ciuleanu, CEO of RebelDot. “In healthcare, the Weave will bring new life and advanced capabilities to dated systems.” About growth potential, Tudor added, “Our customers are from many industries. The Weave can create significant value beyond healthcare – real estate, manufacturing, IoT, finance, government, and others. We see the Weave quickly gaining market traction upon release, and we see RebelDot growing at scale alongside it.”

With the partnership, healthcare and other industries will finally have a blockchain solution that integrates with their existing systems, streamlines their processes, and delivers big data analytics. Subscribers will realize a better healthcare experience, for their organization and for their patients. 

About RebelDot

RebelDot is an end-to-end software development company covering all phases in the software product development lifecycle, from product strategy and tech advisory to design and development.
With over a decade of experience in building software, RebelDot helps companies and organizations in multiple industries bring innovation through technology, by adapting to the new, emerging technologies like blockchain, machine learning and AI. 

RebelDot is an Accredited Training Center with the Blockchain Training Alliance, a Microsoft Partner, and is ISO 9001:2015 Certified and ISO 27001:2018 Certified. 

Learn more about RebelDot, the European-based software development company. – www.rebeldot.com 

About Upheaval

Upheaval creates innovative software solutions, including the patent-pending Weave blockchain environment, that elevate and transform industries. With the Weave, organizations connect real-time, real-world interactions and create network effects that empower every participant. 

To learn more about Upheaval and the Weave, visit: http://theweave.io 

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Diabetes Management: Solve.Care and the Power of Partnership

Global healthcare platform Solve.Care, which utilizes blockchain technology for the administration, coordination, and payment of healthcare benefits, recently announced a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to launch a patient-centric care network on the Solve.Care platform.

Known as the Diabetes Care Administration Network, this collaborative effort aims to improve the well-being of patients with diabetes, as well as those who may be at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

Despite promising medical advancements, heart disease remains the number one cause of death for people who have diabetes. This has led to an urgent need for fundamental changes in how healthcare providers deliver care to people with type 2 diabetes.

The Diabetes Care Administration Network endeavors to boost awareness around this diabetes and heart disease link, as well as fuel dialogue between patients and providers to proactively address diabetes and associated cardiovascular complications.

Care.Wallets, a proprietary tool created by Solve.Care, will be used to support patients managing these dangerous and debilitating chronic conditions, helping them optimize and coordinate care with their families and health providers

Pradeep Goel, CEO of Solve.Care had this to say about the collaboration:  

“The Diabetes Care Administration Network will help bridge a knowledge gap by providing a platform which offers vital information on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in an easily accessible manner. This is invaluable in the healthcare ecosystem as it allows patients to gain a better understanding of their disease while also coordinating their care needs.”

A Groundbreaking Diabetes Care Approach

The Diabetes Care Administration Network which is expected to go live on or before year-end 2019 will be initially accessible to more than 25,000 patients via the Arizona Care Network (ACN), a leading accountable care organization in the U.S. and a current client of Solve.Care.

ACN will deliver concierge care management and support care coordinators, with the objective of achieving better healthcare outcomes for participating patients. Based on the outcomes of this initial effort, opportunities for expansion throughout the U.S. and globally will be assessed.

Says Goel:

“Solve.Care is delighted to announce the introduction of this groundbreaking network onto our platform which will help address one of the most debilitating diseases afflicting millions of men and women around the world. Boehringer Ingelheim is a global leader in innovative solutions that bring more health to patients and we are honored by their trust and multi-year commitment to launching one of the most innovative patient-centric networks in the world.”

Graham Goodrich, vice president, Cardiometabolic Marketing, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. had this to add:

“We are proud to join Solve.Care and the Arizona Care Network to provide patients and providers with additional solutions to help address diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Recent changes to diabetes treatment recommendations have prioritized managing cardiovascular risk, and this program will help ensure both patients and providers are proactively addressing life-threatening cardiovascular complications associated with this chronic condition.”

A critical element of the platform and the Diabetes Care Administration Network is the ability of family members to participate in the coordination of care for their loved ones. By employing this model, it’s not just the patient, but the community around and chosen by the patient, that is engaged and empowered to make important choices in how and when care is coordinated and provided.

Solve.Care Partnerships and the Path Forward

Asked for his thoughts on the broader significance of Solve.Care’s recent partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Goel had this to say:

“Our partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim is a significant milestone for diabetes patients in the management of their medical care. We are ultimately facilitating a network which will provide all the necessary information and access to healthcare providers so patients can be proactive in managing their condition and alleviating the risks of developing cardiovascular disease.”

Goel highlights the importance of Care.Wallet, a proprietary tool designed to leverage the blockchain-powered Solve.Care platform, connecting and coordinating information between consumers, care providers, labs, pharmacies, employers, and plan administrators. It also gives the wallet holder ease of usage for administrative, clinical, and financial tasks.

Says Goel: The Care.Wallet removes the dependency on centralized systems as all stakeholders involved in coordinating a patient’s care are connected to the same network, redefining the relationship between patients, doctors, and insurers. This means doctors and families are aligned in the delivery of better quality care for the patient.

He believes that partnerships like the collaboration between Solve.Care and Boehringer Ingelheim demonstrate that the most established healthcare players are aggressively exploring the application of blockchain in the health sector in order to improve efficiency and convenience.

He concludes: These partnerships are identifying and fulfilling real healthcare needs for patients, doctors, governments, insurers, and other entities in the healthcare ecosystem. These alliances also signify that blockchain is ready for further development and deployment in the healthcare industry.”

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The Weave – investing in the transformation of the healthcare experience, and beyond

The Weave offers an early investment opportunity in a patent-pending enterprise blockchain platform with vast commercial appeal – scalable to multiple growth industries and government – that will resonate with consumers as well.

Investing in The Weave Enterprise Blockchain Platform for Healthcare

The Weave captures and connects real-world interactions in real-time, enabling industries such as healthcare to elevate and transform the experience for all participants – from providers to patients, hospitals to pharmacies, insurers to drug makers, and beyond. All entities in the Weave get their own blockchain, and all participants to an interaction have a shared block placed on their chain. This unique approach creates a Weave of interrelated interactions that securely scales out, mirroring social network effects, and cures over time into a robust shared information fabric.

Imagine reviewing historical medical interactions for a patient, drug or treatment, in-the-moment and in real-time, and thereby being able to make better choices that improve treatment options, avoid costly mistakes, and improve outcomes.

It’s a simple concept, with immense implications and opportunities – for the Weave, and for investors. And as described later in this article, early investor discounts for the Weave are also significant, but limited.

The Upheaval Team

The Upheaval team (Upheaval invented and builds the Weave) has experience in globally scalable enterprise software, protocols, AI, insurance industry solutions, and has experience turning patented technology into successful business models. We’re perfectly situated to capitalize on the future, because we’ve seen seismic shifts like this happen before, and watched the revolutions in commerce occur as a result. This time we’re building the revolution, with help from our advisors who have contributed to companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Groupon, DocuSign, and others that grew into technology leaders in their own right – they’ll help us do the same.

Total Addressable Market for Enterprise Blockchain Adoption in Healthcare

The total addressable market for the Weave, in healthcare alone, is immense. Global healthcare expenditures are expected to top USD $10 trillion by 2022, with an overall annual growth rate of 5.4%. The healthcare IT market alone is expected to top USD $440 billion by 2025, with the electronic health record market alone expected to approach USD $98 billion in the same timeframe – with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 50%. In addition, the Internet of Things (IoT) addressable market in healthcare alone is expected to exceed USD$530 billion by 2025, with a growth rate of 19.9% in that time frame. That’s a lot of growth, in a lot of different areas, all where the Weave can add value and streamline the experience for hospitals, doctors, patients, and all other participants.

In Deloitte’s 2019 US and Global Health Care Industry Outlook, one of its six trends included “investing in digital innovations and transformation” where it listed “digital innovations that are helping reshape the future of health care by making health care delivery more efficient and more accessible.” First on that list was blockchain, others included cloud-based computing, AI, cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS), and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT); the Weave will enable delivering on each of those innovations and more. Importantly, the Weave can do so without disrupting or replacing existing systems – the Weave can integrate with existing systems, rather than having to replace them.

Business Model

The business model for the Weave is based on a subscription service. A subscription establishes an organization’s presence in the Weave (a SaaS subscription model), then integrates their existing systems (in place, intact) to create their own protected Weave presence. Large organizations can have multiple Weave subscriptions, and work seamlessly. This is similar to other cloud-based services such as Microsoft’s Azure, Amazon’s AWS and others. With the Weave, organizations will also be able to subscribe to big data analytics services, so that business intelligence insights based on interactions in the Weave can be used to further improve decisions, service delivery, efficiencies, and even marketing programs.

Patients and individuals use the Upheaval app, our mobile app available on all major platforms, for their engagement in the Weave and to participate in the creation of shared blocks. It’s their portal into their own blockchain information, and the mechanism by which they can selectively share elements or categories of information from their chain, by simply sharing a readable code and confirming they want to share. For individuals, the app and their presence in the Weave is always free.

Subscribers, partners, and other participants who have a presence in the Weave will use the Upheaval cryptocurrency token, the UPC, to pay for subscriptions and other value transfers in the Weave. We talk more about the UPC in a few paragraphs.

An important benefit of having a presence in the Weave is the network effects that can be achieved. Organizations with a presence in the Weave will exponentially increase the value of their accessibility within the Weave environment, just as the Internet, social media, and online shopping exponentially broadened the reach of participants in those networks, too.

Crypto-economics

The Upheaval cryptocurrency, the UPC, fuels the Weave’s economic activity and is being offered in Blocks. The first Block is currently available in a private sale using SAFT agreements, with an early investor discount of 50%. The intent of such a deep discount is straightforward: early investors should benefit most, so they get the best discount. A finite amount of UPCs are available in Block 1.

Investment Window

Current Block: Block 1 – 50% discount
Current Window: Private Sale – open now
Investment: SAFT agreements, accepting BTC, ETH, FIAT

Here are details about the token offering itself:

Token Details

Symbol: UPC
Total Supply: 1,800,000,000
Token Standard: Weave
Hard Cap: 30% of all tokens
Additional details: see the Weave whitepaper

Participation in the private sale is handled through our investor site, which is accessible from our website. Our website describes the Weave in more detail, details our roadmap and our team, and has links to our whitepaper and our presentation deck. Visit our website at https://theweave.io.

All of us at Upheaval are dedicated to delivering the Weave for the healthcare industry, and beyond. Its opportunity to elevate and transform the healthcare experience – for all participants – makes it an investment with strong technological foundation, delivered by an experienced team, with seasoned advisors, on a roadmap that already has momentum.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please visit our website for more details, and use the form below to get in touch, and learn how to participate.

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The Weave – enterprise blockchain platform for a better healthcare experience

In this article we discuss shortfalls of the current healthcare information experience, and an evolutionary solution. Once we explain that solution, we’ll walk through a real-life use case so the concepts come to life. 

Problems and gaps in today’s healthcare experience

Healthcare today suffers from information that’s reactive and secluded, sitting in silos where retrieving and connecting it in meaningful ways is burdensome at best, time consuming, and expensive. 

Even when those efforts do pull data together, its greatest value has long-since passed. Its derived insights were most valuable and needed in-the-moment, so that diagnoses and treatments could be better selected, delivered, and with fewer mistakes. If that were happening, every participant’s experience – and outcome – would be better, faster, easier and much more efficient. 

Such real-time interactions and information is possible, with a patent-pending technology called the Weave. 

Closing the healthcare experience gap 

The Weave is a new, patent-pending enterprise blockchain platform supporting industry level business ecosystems. Its premise is simple – an entity in the Weave gets its own blockchain. An entity could be a hospital or an organizational business unit within the hospital such as the Hospital Department Administrators. An entity can be a segment within the Hospital Department Administrators such as Emergency Care, as even individual ER doctors and supporting staff. An entity can also be the IoT connected ambulance that brought the patient to the ER as well as the individual patient. Each interaction between any 2 entities creates a shared block placed on each entity’s blockchain. In this example, the vertical integration of data from the patient to the hospital as a whole is streamlined regardless of who the patient encounters throughout their immediate and subsequent follow up experience. 

Simple in concept, but expansive in implications.

With the Weave, healthcare interactions are collected in real-time, creating an immutable and interconnected moment-in-time for each participant. Access to selective history can be granted, such as for a doctor to review a patient’s medications in real time, curbing complications and illuminating the best pathway to wellness. 

Let’s take a look at a simple use case, and explain how the Weave can elevate and transform the healthcare experience, and provide network-effects benefits to Weave participants.

Establishing a presence in the Weave

Let’s start by describing how organizations can establish their presence in the Weave environment , and participant in those real-time interactions with other organizations already present in the Weave ecosystem.

Access to the Weave environment is granted through a subscription model, similar to an Azure, AWS, or Office 365. Once an organization completes the subscription signup process, it can seek out and engage with any other organization who has a presence in the Weave – patients, drug makers, pharmacies, hospitals. From a B2B perspective, this includes individuals within the same organization such as patient service providers. Additionally, individuals in separate established organizations can setup a connection, establish the same rules as their real work  business agreement and communicate. Such would be the case with a provider who must process a claim from 1 in-network & 1 out-of-network doctor who treated the same patient for different stages of the same clinical care cycle. 

From a B2C perspective, with individuals – such as patients – simply install the Upheaval App on their mobile device, create a profile, and their presence and blockchain in the Weave is established. Weave is free for individuals, always. 

For large organizations, multiple Weave subscriptions can be provisioned, and connected later on as needed for intra-company interactions. You don’t need the entire company to agree on a single Weave subscription – you can grow into them as desired.  

The Weave works with existing healthcare information technology systems. 

Established healthcare information technology systems can integrate in-place. Devices – and other objects – can also be integrated for IoT functionality, and participate in interactions that immutably place a block on each participant’s chain. 

Existing workflows are maintained and augmented, or can be refined through process engineering that incorporates the Weave’s new capabilities and efficient automation. Our security compliant APIs and integration points mean organizations don’t need to replace their existing IT infrastructure.

Once an organization has a presence in the Weave, they can create as many objects and blockchains as needed. Doctors, rooms, devices, and treatments can be defined (or extracted from existing treatment or schema definitions) to create an interaction-ready blockchain. Pharmacists, medicines, compounds, departments, services, or other objects useful as participants in real-world interactions can also be defined as entities, and engage as block participants.

And since the Weave is a global environment with a standardized block, organizations can securely interact with objects outside their Weave subscription – seamlessly, securely, and with privacy requirements observed.

Now, on to our use case.

Enterprise blockhain healthcare use case on the Weave

Meet Sarah. Sarah heads to the hospital for an appointment. Upon  reaching reception, Sarah shares a code from her Upheaval app, and automatically provides the reception desk with identity verification and basic check-in, medical and insurance information. Instead of filling out a redundant paper copy of a medical questionnaire, check-in completes securely, in just moments.

A shared block is created from that interaction:

Sarah – The block is placed on Sarah’s blockchain, containing information about the interaction including the appointment, location, time, and what information was shared during check-in. Her blockchain includes all of Sarah’s health interactions, in and out of her current provider network.

Hospital – The block also goes onto the hospital’s blockchain, as a record of Sarah being at the appointment, when she arrived, and how to bill her insurance. 

Reception – The hospital created an entity for Reception to collect their interactions for recordkeeping and other uses. The block also goes onto their Reception blockchain, as a participant in the interaction.

Insurer – The block is also placed on Sarah’s insurer’s blockchain, to provide the information necessary for treatment, payment, coverage, and to record the interaction.

Sarah then meets with her physician, who reviews medical-specific history from Sarah’s blockchain (we call that walking the chain). Upheaval’s AI, coupled with the Upheaval-ecosystem’s machine learning and semantic associations engine, detects potential complications based on Sarah’s existing medications. The doctor changes the prescription, then with a few taps on her tablet (running a version of the Upheaval app designed for enterprises), scans codes with the app that describe Sarah’s visit, then signs and sends the prescription to Sarah’s pharmacy. 

Having Sarah’s medical history available in real-time lets her doctor avoid a costly and painful mistake. Securely and immutably signing, then sending the prescription streamlines the process for all participants.

A shared block is created from the doctor’s office interaction:

Doctor – The block is placed on the doctor’s blockchain, with information about the interaction, including the exam and devices used, course of treatment and prescription.

Sarah – The block is placed on Sarah’s blockchain, describing the treatment, medication, and other details. Upheaval’s notification engine can send her updates about her treatment.

Medicine – The block also goes onto the prescribed medicine’s blockchain, recording privacy-allowed information about Sarah to become part of its record and results. 

Pharmacy – The block goes onto the pharmacy’s blockchain, enabling it to prepare the prescription with validation of the doctor, patient, and medicine. 

Insurer – The block is also placed on Sarah’s insurer’s blockchain, for payment and records purposes. The insurer can automatically send digital payment to the pharmacy, secured using the immutability and protections of the Weave. A receipt for the prescription, with all relevant information, is automatic and implied with creation of the block. 

Information about each participant in inherent in the placement of the block on each chain. Sarah can easily review which doctor she saw, when, at which location, the type of treatment provided, and the medication prescribed, as well as other details. All using a user-friendly UI in the Upheaval app.

All participants benefit from the shared block, in multiple ways.

Creating and placing those shared blocks in real-time has all sorts of benefits – both collectively and individually. Let’s look at how each participant benefits:

Medicine – with each medicine getting its own blockchain, drug makers can walk the chain of each medicine to gain insights and keep records as a matter of course. Finding which patients were prescribed (and their demographics), where, when, how often, how much, and patterns usage become straightforward. 

Traverse the block connections beyond that particular medicine’s chain, and network effects start to become apparent: What other medicine did those patients take, in what timeframe, and what were the effects? Effectively, conduct ongoing longitudinal studies that update in real time with vast, traversable, interconnected datasets. These big data analytics and insights are services the Weave can provide directly to subscribers.

Doctors –  Physicians can keep treatments, prescriptions, patient patterns, and other information easily accessible and retrievable. All information becomes easier to submit, track, access, and traverse – saving time and effort.

People – Individuals benefit from having their medical records easily accessible, secure, and can easily share selected elements as needed. The entire healthcare experience becomes easier and integrated. Add patient notifications and feedback, and the wellness loop also evolves into real-time.

Insurers & providers– With information about interactions submitted in real-time, insurers and care providers better track treatment, coverage, and patterns. Payments with Upheaval Credits (UPCs) mean transfers of value happen as soon as the block is written, streamlining payments, accounting, and record keeping. 

Hospitals – Hospitals can provide more effective services and track them more easily. Analytics and efficiency opportunities are just the beginning of the benefits. 

Many others – Individual blockchains, bound by real-time shared blocks, is an evolution of data freshness and interconnectivity. The network effects of being able to traverse an individual blockchain, then walk connections found therein, has a rich set of opportunities for multiple aspects of healthcare.

This is just the beginning of applications for the Weave, and they extend throughout the healthcare industry and beyond. The Upheaval team has vast experience in enterprise software, protocols, and integration with existing systems, including close development and integration work with Top-10 insurance carriers. 

For more information, including how to partner or participate as an early round investor, look through our whitepaper and check out TheWeave.io

 

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Key Blockchain Healthcare Use Cases to Watch

Of the many many challenges the US. healthcare system is or isn’t working, it’s become abundantly clear not one is going

  • frequent medical data breaches, 
  • counterfeit drug distribution, 
  • or forging of the results of the clinical trials. 

Blockchain solutions can trigger positive changes in the industry and provide recurring opportunities for further domain development. 

Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Use Cases

So, we are going to find out how blockchain technology can help handle each of the challenges mentioned above and which ready-made solutions already exist on the market.

Medical Data Breaches

In March 2019, the healthcare industry has faced a 14% increase in the volume of data breaches compared to the average rate of the last 6 months. This has led to an increase in the number of exposed health records.

A healthcare provider, Navicent Health, has reported that 278,016 of their medical records have been accessed via phishing. One more case has taken place at ZOLL Services LLC. Their network has been attacked which resulted in the exposure of 277,319 records.

PhrOS Records System

Phros is a healthcare records system introduced by Taipei Medical University in partnership with the Digital Treasury Corporation in 2017. To achieve higher transparency between medical institutions and increase data security, PhrOS leverages blockchain technology for securing medical data. 

By using a mobile PhrOS app, doctors and patients can securely exchange data. For example, a patient can input the information about their current health condition, and the doctor will immediately see it in real time. This significantly improves doctor-patient interaction.

MedicalChain

MedicalChain proves partnerships are a key stepping stone to broader adoption. One can not write about this topic without mentioning Medicalchain in cooperation with a private clinic chain Groves Medical Group is MyClinic. Similarly to PhrOS, MyClinic provides the opportunity for transparent doctor-patient interaction by using decentralized ledger technology (DLT).

The service aims to protect the process of transferring electronic healthcare records (EHRs) between patients and doctors. By using MyClinic, patients can securely send their data to the doctors and get real-time remote consultation for a smaller fee while there is no need to spend money on office rent and transportation.

Prescription fraud abuse

About 10% of all drugs in the world are fakes. This statistics mostly relates to such locations as Latin America, Europe, and Africa. More than a million people annually die because of these forged medications. 

Moreover, it has been reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that the counterfeit drug area costs governments approximately $200 billion per year.

Blockchain technology can help eliminate the risk of forgery and, thus, save lots of people’s lives.

Data placed on blockchain can’t be altered in any way. This allows you to accurately trace every single phase of the drug delivery – from the producer’s storage to the consumer. For this, it is better to use private encryption keys which block all attempts of getting into the system for medication forgery.

SAP focused on counterfeit medicine

SAP has recently introduced its blockchain software for reducing counterfeit medicine. According to their product, drug makers have to note down the information about each drug item they produce on the ledger. They also have to transfer their XML messages through the SAP’s cloud so that they can occur on blockchain. This ensures that these messages will be accessible only to the supply chain participants, and no third parties could access them for forgery.

AsliMedicine is tracking drugs using blockchain technology

One more ready-made solution is AsliMedicine aimed at tracing drugs across the entire healthcare chain and detecting fakes. This solution assigns a specific coding model for every medicine. It may include a unique ID number, location of the manufacturing, name of the company, etc. All these details help track the item throughout the chain and identify counterfeit ones. 

Blockchain Technology for Clinical Trials

The purpose of any clinical trial is to determine the effectiveness of a newly produced drug. A common process consists of three key stages. At the first stage, the medicine is distributed among the small group of volunteers; at the second one – among the bigger group; and at the last stage the medicine is provided for testing by the largest group.

This process is expensive and time-consuming. This is why many manufacturers can forge the trial results to be able to put the drug for sale faster. 

Blockchain again comes to the rescue. To add new information to blockchain, the participant has first wait until the data about the tested drug placed in the previous blocks gets confirmed. Thus, the technology ensures the authenticity of the document which, in turn, confirms that the results of the trial are true. 

BloqCube ensuring integrity for clinical trials

One of the ready-made solutions powered by blockchain in BloqCube. It facilitates clinical trials, aims to accelerate the entire process and ensures medical information integrity. 

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Encrypgen Blazes New Frontier For Genetic Marketplaces

For many researchers, obtaining access to genetic data can be quite challenging. If they’re seeking to tap into a specific population set, they typically have to recruit subjects into a study, which can be long, arduous, and expensive. 

Then there’s the study approval process for tissue samples, including consent from the participants.  Next, the samples will need to be sequenced to obtain the genetic data, another expensive step. It is at this point that the researchers can begin connecting together the data they’re seeking from the subjects they recruited. 

On the consumer side of the equation, millions of people who have been genetically tested now have access to their own data. This data is then sold by testing companies for research studies, often without the person fully realizing it, or even being compensated for it. In the meantime these companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of that data. 

Enter Encrypgen, a DNA marketplace that’s on a crusade to upend this prevailing narrative. Their product, Gene-Chain, is a free market ecosystem that allows people who have had genetic testing sell that data directly to researchers, in a simpler, cost-effective, and more profitable way for both parties. 

Encrypgen: The Future of Tokenized DNA Marketplaces

The DNA token, used as cryptocurrency on the Encrypgen DNA marketplace, is the foundation of this transaction system. All transactions are immutably captured and retrievable, and payable on the system ensuring frictionless commerce on the platform. Moreover, there is no need to pay fees to any service to conduct payments. 

The token is widely available and fungible to other currencies as well, providing users with a way to get paid or pay for data without worrying about credit card forms or other complex, costly payment systems online. 

Asked to describe how blockchain is integrated into the inner workings of Encrypgen, founder and CEO Dave Koepsell had this to say: 

“Currently it stores metadata about the user and completes transactions. There are significant barriers to doing more for now, such as putting the genomic data itself on a blockchain, due to regulatory and privacy issues, especially in Europe.” 

Koepsell says that this involves keeping an eye on tech such as IPFS (Interplanetary File System) and looking at how, in the future, blockchains can be used for the data itself, which would be great, he says, if it can scale well and not compromise privacy. He believes that the future will demand that genomic blockchains be able to process the data, thus the reason for this being the target of their design efforts in the future. 

Forward Acceleration Into The Future

Partnerships with DNA and health service related product and service providers are a key strategic element of Encrypgen’s progression moving forward. 

“Our partners who provide testing and other services all agree with our philosophy of putting the user in control and letting them profit. Forward-thinking companies like these are asking to work with us because they want to see the de-monopolization of data and a future in which individuals are in full control and profit from their data. Over time, the range of companies in the genomic space choosing to work with us and aligned with our point of view will doubtless continue to grow, especially as users continue to demand more control and ownership of their data in general.” 

Another recent advancement supporting Encrypgen’s rapid trajectory is their website redesign. Notes Koepsell: 

“We greatly simplified the experience on our site and more people are signing up and becoming users as a result. Our traffic has increased significantly and usability appears to have improved, based upon use-metrics. In the meantime, we are still exploring how to make the platform more friendly, but even there we are seeing a lot of people interact with it positively.”  

Koepsell, in particular,  is very excited by the new custom survey feature that allows researchers to seek more info from those from whom they have bought data, and eventually to further pay them for that. This, he says, will make the ongoing interaction between users and researcher more rewarding while further enabling better data collection and scientific discovery.

In terms of the roadmap for EncrypGen over the next 12-18 months, Koepsell had this to offer

“This coming year we will release a new B2B product as part of our Microsoft Startup partnership, and this will involve some of our other partners as well. This means we will be listed on the Microsoft Store, which will give us greater reach and visibility. Moreover, we are part of a research consortium that will investigate the use of genomic data in personalized medicine.” 

He says that this a huge partnership for Encrypgen and having the Memorandum of Understanding in hand now for that research consortium means that their efforts will gain tens of thousands of new users essentially for free, on top of those we are gaining through our marketing. 

He concludes: “Since we will be profitable at between 35k and 50k users, this is great news for us and we are looking forward to the start of that study.” 

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See more at Encrypgen.com
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