Tag: Data Integrity

Data integrity is critical to blockchain adoption in the healthcare industry. Personal health data must never be compromised nor altered.

HealthLedger – Blockchain-Based Electronic Health Record Exchange Platform

HealthLedger is working to revolutionize the way healthcare operates at the ground level. Traditionally, healthcare has remained expensive because many operational costs are redundant. Questionnaires filled out for each clinic, charts reviewed and tests re-ordered, and that’s just the icing on the cake.

Blockchain technology can do more than just save everyone money, it can also help prevent improper access to health records via blockchain rights management. Time is money, right? Well, blockchain can even save time spent faxing, scanning, and sending documents. Think of blockchain like a filing cabinet—except every office that is connected has all of the files simultaneously.

How does the Healthledger EHR exchange platform work?

HealthLedger uses the HyperLedger framework to place health records on the blockchain. By working with a pre-established framework, the team behind HealthLedger has access to solutions developed by an open-source coding community. They can adapt others’ work to suit their needs without fighting over who owns what.

They will upload records to a permissioned blockchain that is shared with clinics in their network worldwide. Currently, medical practices have to record information from patients, obtain new patient paperwork, carry out any tests they don’t have a record for, and much more.

With a solution like HealthLedger, however, clinics, hospitals, and doctors can all share information more quickly, easily, and safely. They simply upload patient files to the blockchain and other offices will have access to the records at will, so long as they have been granted access.

What can it change?

Emerging technology is always promised as a cure-all for the world’s issues. The real trouble with changing the world is under-promising and over-delivering so that people consistently know you will follow-through. blockchain can help with many issues in healthcare, but it will not fix everything wrong with the industry.

Issues HealthLedger may be able to solve:

  • Data security
  • Time efficiency
  • Data errors
  • Customer Experience (HIPAA constraints on phone-based lab result delivery)
  • High cost of operations (and thus treatment)
  • Paper waste

How can HealthLedger solve them?

  • Data security is improved by putting information in a shared database with very specific permissions, limited access, and other controls like MAC Address whitelisting can be implemented as well.
  • Time efficiency is improved by sharing files into a common set of locations, so other offices have access to them readily.
  • Data errors are reduced by allowing physicians and technicians to focus more on their tasks at hand than worrying about filing the charts and results away.
  • Patients no longer have to come into the office to retrieve their lab results or other test results. The information can be shared securely using a blockchain-based decentralized application (dApp).
  • Operational costs can be reduced through time savings and increased work efficiency, which should result in cheaper costs of medical visits.
  • Paper waste can be lessened by taking notes on tablets and PCs, then uploading them directly to the blockchain.

How might it impact the consumer experience?

Consumers may experience lower costs for their treatment, shorter visits to medical offices. Customers struggle against expensive medical visits and lengthy questionnaires—not to mention long lines in busier cities—everytime they need to get a check-up or need assistance.

What services do they currently have in the works?

HealthLedger does not seem to have a publicly available GitHub repository. There are two other projects, one is developing a blockchain-based system for tracking organ donations, preventing medical abuse of incapacitated patients, and preventing organ trafficking. The HealthLedger project in question, however, is working to put all health-based records on the blockchain.

If you’d like to know more about HealthLedger, you can view their website. They do not have a public whitepaper, yellowpaper (technical document), or business plan at this time.

subscribe

Subscribe to stay up to date with the latest blockchain innovation in healthcare.

hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: “3391851”, formId: “54aacaa9-7a27-415c-af3e-be912e825097” });

Blockchain-powered data security: A prescription for renewed trust in healthcare

Blockchain and data security in healthcare

One of the major challenges faced in healthcare industry is maintaining the data and information of a patient or any transaction or any operation for the reason of security and privacy. Some of the largest mal-practices in healthcare industry is identity theft, false insurance claims, manipulating data or information, etc. When such activities take place, the decision making of a doctor or a physician is obstructed too. This is because the data that is available to the doctor or physician if it is manipulated or miscommunicated, it may even lead to fatal consequences such as misdiagnosis or improper medication.

Blockchain in healthcare, today, is able to eliminate these vulnerabilities with the help of its features such as transparency, server less data storage using services like Amazon, accessibility, etc. According to a research study conducted by IBM, out of every hospital they conducted the research, 16 percent of the hospital institutions are either willing to use Blockchain for security purposes. The research study states that by 2020, around 56 percent of the hospital institutions will be using Blockchain in healthcare for data security and also enhance their interoperability.

healthcare blockchain

Enhancing data integrity with Blockchain

One of the major difficulties faced by doctors and physicians in healthcare industry is integrating patient data from different hospital institutions. Everyday new patient comes in, new treatments are invented to better treat patients, which in turn increases the data involved in the process. Such data might be lab reports, patient medical records, doctor or hospital institution that treated the patient, medication prescribed, etc.

The data size keeps increasing every day and thus it also increases the need for large storage to maintain and handle the data efficiently. As the size keep increasing, traditionally verifying the stored data is difficult as there is either no orderly arrangement or the chances of a data not getting stored is high. This might result in problems in sharing data too.

With Blockchain, this problem is eliminated as it provides the means to integrate data from different parties using a strong peer to peer connection without any restriction. Hence, doctors are able to trace back the source of data that is displayed too. This increases the integrity value, providing quality to the data.

Secured connectivity between disparate data

Achieving consensus between different parties within a hospital industry is one of the toughest jobs to handle. This is because various people are involved in various transactions to complete a particular operation. For example, when a patient uses a hospital ambulance service, various people come into the picture and multiple transactions take place. These group of people include ambulance drivers, doctors and tasks such as getting operating theatre ready, financial transactions, logistics support to make sure the ambulance arrives at the right time, etc.

With Blockchain it is easier to coordinate all people involved in the transaction and coordinating different tasks. This allows all operative tasks to take place without delay or any error or miscommunication.

Secured identity with Blockchain

What would happen if a person provides a false identity of a doctor and misdiagnose the disease or prescribe wrongful medications? It may traumatize the patient for life due to the consequences of the misdiagnosis. With false identify, the threat increases for data and private information of the patient of hospital institution stored, etc. If these data and information is manipulated, it might even lead mal-practice of laundering money or even fatal to the patient if the data manipulated is used in operative tasks.

With Blockchain these mal-practices are eliminated. Since, Blockchain operates over a decentralized network, the network provides the ability to store data with high encryption. Data is stored in the form of blocks and chunks cryptographically and thus, manipulating or changing any stored data is not easy. Patients, Doctors and Physicians are also able to authenticate license of any service provided as Blockchain provides evidence to all data stored.

To change the data, the whole network system has to be shut down and changes to be made to the entire network. This is close to impossible in healthcare industry due to various transactions and operations that take place non-stop.

Compliance with legal regulatory standards

One of the major challenges faced by healthcare industry is complying with the legal rules and standards set by HIPAA. HIPAA requires every hospital organization to handle data over a secured channel which provides privacy and security to the identifiable information or records stored. HIPAA also focuses on the authorizing process that the hospital undertakes to ensure patient safety and operating efficiency.

Blockchain provides a decentralized authority than enhances faster transaction and stores data digitally with encryption over a decentralized network. Thus, with Blockchain, healthcare industry is able to meet the regulatory standards set by HIPAA hassle-free without any obstacles. This creates trust between stakeholders and the hospital organization too.

Blockchain Healthcare Startups

Following are some healthcare startups according to the source medium that have started incorporating Blockchain to ensure data security and also cultivate trust in healthcare.

Startup Service provided with Blockchain
GuardtimeSecuring the healthcare records of the patient. Read more…
Cyph MDBuilding a secured communication between different healthcare service providers. Read more…
GemPromoting collaboration of healthcare with Blockchain.
Read more…
Med
Rec		Secure patient medical records. Read more…
IRYOMedical research management. Read more…
blockchain provides efficient prescription to healthcare industry

Blockchain helps to overcome healthcare concerns raised in relation with privacy, accessibility, security of medical and healthcare data. Blockchain also helps to prevent security breach and proves to be a reliable technology that will benefit the patient and healthcare industry as a whole. Most of all, Blockchain provides digital protection to healthcare.

subscribe
hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: “3391851”, formId: “54aacaa9-7a27-415c-af3e-be912e825097” });

BlockCon Conference Review: Singapore 2017

Blockcon Singapore 2017The first global Blockchain (BlockCon 2017) event takes place in Singapore on March 28 & 29 at Marina Bay Sands. Blockchains are public networks where transactions are recorded and accessible to all parties for verification purposes. The possibilities for use across an array of business applications are endless. These conferences are an effort to link some of the various parts of industry where Blockchains can be immediately useful. Also, speakers take the opportunity to educate groups on the direction of the technology.

BlockCon Singapore 2017

The event will feature live demonstrations and lectures on real applications for industries. Fintech was one of the first sectors to embrace new methods for international buying and selling through Blockchain innovations. Growing enthusiasm for the technology has forced other industries to consider the potential. BlockCon Conference 2017 will see representatives from healthcare and finance to entrepreneurs and coders.

The event expects to have over 60 speakers and 70 sponsors. Various startup tech companies and individual entrepreneurs submitted working papers and opened up registration for new concept proposals. One unique element of BlockCon 2017 is the ‘proof of concept’ portion that allows companies to share their tested ideas.

Some of the highlighted items for the event will focus on authentication, fraud, smart contracts, self-executing contracts, and identity. Some of the attendees will focus on the regulation side of things since compliance is always a cost issue for anyone interested in putting in new programs.

Over 1,000 global innovators from various backgrounds and schools of thought will share diverse ideas from the growing universe of Blockchain technology. Make plans to attend. 

subscribe

Subscribe to stay up to date with the latest news about Blockchain summits.

hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: “3391851”, formId: “c44ce255-fad9-4c65-be8b-56af99831a11” });