Tag: Nashville

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and has the largest amount of healthcare workers per capital in the country.

2017 Distributed: Health – Nashville, TN

Distributed: Health Blockchain Healthcare Conference Overview

The conference targets the healthcare, law and IT services industries. This year’s program provides conference sessions and three key learning opportunities for registrants: a two unit continuing legal education component, a 24-hour hack-a-thon for developers and a code camp. The CLE is open to attorneys and non-attorneys. Its track requires advance registration and costs $199. The hack-a-thon competition’s objective is to build and demonstrate an original blockchain-powered application. The competition offers prizes of more than $10,000. The code camp provides hands-on workshops for all levels of blockchain developers. The camp costs $50 and meets at The Bell Tower from 9:30 am to 5 pm, September 25th. The conference sessions cover four learning tracks:

  • Blockchain for Business,
  • CLE,
  • Internet of Things,
  • Payments.

The two-day conference costs $649.

Sessions and Speakers

The conference kicks off with a keynote address from Change Healthcare CEO Neil de Crescenzo on his organization and its objectives. The networking lunch also features a keynote address. Dr. Harold Paz, Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer for Aetna will discuss his company’s Blockchain usage. The day closes with a keynote speech from John Sotos, Chief Medical Officer for Intel Health & Life Sciences.

The conference features multiple panel sessions. These include:

  • “A New Infrastructure for Healthcare,” combines presentations and discussion from: John Bass, CEO of Hashed Health; Bryan Smith, Chief Scientist of PokitDok; Miriam Paramore, President of OptimizeRx.
  • “The Future of Payment Models” with Ray Herschman, Vice President of Accountable Care Strategy and Business Development at Cerner Corporation; John Bass, CEO of Hashed Health; Francois de Brantes, Vice President & Director of the Altarum Center for Payment Innovation and Aaron Symanski, CTO of Change Healthcare.
  • “Blockchain IoT Use Cases: Scalability & Security” with Siva Kannan, VP of Engineering for Gem; Carlos Elena-Lenz, Director of Intelligent Products & Solutions for Cognizant; Frank Ricotta, CEO for BurstIQ.
  • “Introduction to Blockchain: Defining Use Cases” with Andrew Beal, Senior Manager of EY; Jennifer Georgino, Director of Ecosystem Development for Patientory; Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director for The Hyperledger Project; David Houlding, Director of Healthcare Privacy and Security for Intel Health and Life Sciences.
  • “Blockchain & Revenue Cycle Management” with Ray Herschman, Vice President of Accountable Care Strategy and Business Development for Cerner Corporation; Pearson Talbert, President of HealthcareTTU; Kyle Culver, Solution Architect for Humana; Scott Law, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Zotec Partners; Jim Sohr, Chairman of Powered Health.
  • “Clearing the Way for the Internet of Clinical Things” with Jason Goldwater, Senior Director of the National Quality Forum; David Metcalf, Director of the Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab at the UCF Institute for Simulation and Training; Kristen Johns, Counsel for Waller; Susan Ramonat, CEO of Spiritus Partners.
  • “Laying a Foundation for Success: State Initiatives in Blockchain” with John Wagster, Co-Chair of Blockchain and Digital Currency Practice for Frost Brown Todd; Giles Ward, Executive Director for Hashed Health; Kenneth Bradberry, President of BlockChange.
  • “Blockchain: The Individual & the Employer” with Frank Coliano, Operating Partner with The Riverside Company; Micah Winkelspecht, Founder and CEO of Gem; Peter Fuchs, Corporate Strategy for Mercer.

Workshops

The first afternoon also offers hands-on learning opportunities. A workshop, “Blockchain Use Case Workshop with Optum,” hosted by Mike Jacobs, a Distinguished Engineer with Optum, introduces participants to Blockchain case studies. A live demonstration session, “Demos: Blockchain in Action,” presents technologies from Hash///ed Health, IBM, PokitDok, and the State of Illinois.

CLE Session Highlights

A CLE registrants session, “Healthcare Regulation Meets Blockchain,” examines how Blockchain affects HIPAA compliance, legislative trends and regulatory issues. Panelists include: Caitlin Moon, COO and CDO for Legal Alignment; Larry Bridgesmith, CEO/Founder of Legal Alignment, Adel Elmissiry, CTO for Utilize Health, Jodi Daniel, Partner at Crowell & Moring.

A second CLE registrants session, “The Legal Challenges of Token Offerings,” looks at the legal ramifications of token fundraising including securities laws, border limitations and consumer protections. Panelists include: Les Wilkinson, Chief Development Officer for Hashed Health; Gray Sasser, Co-Chair of Blockchain and Digital Currency Practice for Frost Brown Todd; Jason Epstein, Partner and Co-leader of Technology and Procurement Group for Nelson Mullins; Alan Cohn, Counselor and Strategic Advisor for Steptoe & Johnson LLP. See the agenda for Distributed: Health

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The Illinois Blockchain Initiative and Hashed Health

On November 30th, 2016, the state of Illinois announced the launch of the Illinois Blockchain Initiative, founded for the purpose of exploring the application of blockchain technology to key government data-handling processes. One of the most promising developments of the initiative since its launch is its recent partnership with healthcare technology innovation consortium Hashed Health. The initial phase of the partnership will involve a pilot program aimed at improving the medical license credentialing process in Illinois through the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

Seal_of_Illinois

The Illinois Blockchain Initiative

Ever since its launch last November, the Illinois Blockchain Initiative has been active on a number of fronts. Prior to its partnership with Hashed Health in August, perhaps the initiative’s most significant move has been to clarify state law governing cryptocurrency. On June 13th, the initiative announced new rules governing the use of cryptocurrency among individuals and organizations operating in Illinois. According to their official statement, given that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are not issued by recognized financial institutions they do not meet the definition of legal tender found in the Illinois’ Transmitters of Money Act (TOMA). Nonetheless, cryptocurrencies still contribute to net worth as they can be exchanged for legal tender. Businesses in Illinois facilitating the exchange are therefore subject to TOMA regulations and will require a TOMA license. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency owned by cryptocurrency companies will be considered a “permissible investment.”

Hashed Health

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Hashed Health is a consortium of healthcare organizations largely devoted to spreading blockchain-based innovation throughout the healthcare sector. The consortium offers its member organizations blockchain technology support in product development, regulatory assistance and several other critical areas. Gaining access to the wealth of health expertise and technology guidance that Hashed Health provides, member organizations can launch new health-focused and blockchain-based programs and technologies more efficiently, effectively and affordably.

The partnership

On August 8th, the Illinois Blockchain Initiative announced a pilot program in partnership with Hashed Health to explore the application of blockchain and distributed ledger technology to the process of issuing and tracking state medical licenses. At a technical level, the project will make full use of smart contracts (small, dedicated programs that store and retrieve specific units of information on-demand) to update medical credentials held in the shared, distributed, blockchain-based system.

According to Bryan Schneider, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the pilot program they are launching in partnership with Hashed Health will initially enhance the state’s efforts to make medical licenses for Illinois health professionals more portable. In the long term, the program could potentially serve as a leading example of how all states could more effectively verify and otherwise credential medical licenses. Both providers and payers alike may one day have a national, shared, secure and efficient repository of medical license data, ultimately improving provider listings while streamlining the medical claims process.

Jennifer O’Rourke, Illinois Blockchain Initiative’s Blockchain Business Liason, foresees “sharing our learnings” not only with medical licensing boards in other states, but with all parties with an interest in the project’s goals. CEO of Hashed Health, John Bass, sees the broader goal of the project as a bold proof-of-concept for the value of blockchain that will contribute to a “digital transformation” not only for the state of Illinois, but for the public and private sectors as a whole. Ultimately, they are trying to usher in an era of greater “transparency and trust” between individual citizens and their government.

A promising future

Overall, the Illinois Blockchain Initiative is a bold attempt to bring blockchain technology to one of the most important bodies of data handled by state government: medical licenses. By choosing to partner with healthcare technology innovation consortium Hashed Health they are drawing upon a wealth of blockchain and healthcare expertise that should increase the odds that their pilot program will succeed. If it does, we should expect that the program will serve as a model for other states and organizations that are eager to take advantage of the promise of blockchain to help data flow securely and efficiently throughout the greater healthcare system. 

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Distributed Health Sept. 2017: Using Blockchain Tech to Lasso Healthcare

Last October at Distributed: Health, Hashed Healthcare announced their partnership with Martin Ventures to steer the healthcare industry into the blockchain age. This September, CEO John Bass and Chairman Charlie Martin will share with us details about their developing relationship. Expect to see some other friendly faces and meet new ones as world leaders gather to re-imagine today’s healthcare marketplace through implementing transformation technology into current infrastructure. Hosting a variety of speakers from Harvard Medical School and the CDC, to Aetna, to Intel Health and Life Sciences who will review opportunities and obstacles facing blockchain technology in institutional practices. Some leaders believe one benefit of this technology is to streamline communication between providers and patients. Crypto-mining malware isn’t new to cryptocurrencies and raises question’s concerning “crypto-security” and “immutability” that this technology claims to offer. Recently Ethereum (a popular blockchain platform) experienced another cyber-attack, though this time during the ICO phase. This begs the question: how secure is a programmed algorithmic self-aware system, if such software has already experienced two cryptocurrency heists? Hopefully this year speakers will discuss new coding developments to improve security measures and talk about how such a transparent system will meet HIPPA regulations, which were left hovering above the clouds last October. Perhaps recent events will light a new path, providing insights that may help to prevent future crypto-hacks. 

Distributed: Health Schermerhorn Symphony Center September 25th-26th, 2017: 

Healthcare Ecosystem a New Marketplace 

Sinclair Lewis’s literature wasn’t far off from envisioning the impact business and advertising would have on our culture as communication platforms evolved. Programmed to understand neuro-linguistics and graph human behavioral patterns, deep-chain self-aware software systems predict patient health habits to directly target marketing of products and services. Intelligent machines coupled with blockchain technology transform today’s traditional market into a virtual ecosystem. Smart devices connected to a blockchain cloud will digitally expand hospital arms into patient homes. The Internet of Things or inter-networking of smart devices, implemented with blockchain technology and smart contracts theoretically provides simultaneous immutable tracking of multiple data sources, like medical records and billing, in one de-centralized database. Imagine the limitless opportunities transformative technology will have on managing humanity’s health and wellness!

Building Virtual Clinics

Digital connectivity provides an instant continual flow of information, leading to improved communication and care between providers and patients. An electronic health database and remote monitoring is especially useful for patients receiving cardiac or post-stroke care, as well as glucose management. Physicians: imagine the immediate impact and long-term effect of using a glucometer at home, with the added benefit of your patient uploading and sending the results to you daily. This will help Internists and Geriatric Specialists closely monitor glucose levels in their endocrine fragile patients. Peering through the screen, implementing a blockchain cloud system has potential to improve patient care while impacting the industry’s bottom-line, upstream and downstream. 

 A few appealing characteristics: 

  • Blockchain Systems are attractive to employers and third-party payers alike! Software analytics predict patient health habits while positively impacting results! It’s more cost-effective to keep sick patients healthier and out of the hospital!
  • Invest in the well-being of your community and see the value mirrored in the health of the population your institution treats! Intelligent machines offer solutions to long-term care by improving a patient’s access to their physician and open flow of communication!
  • Incorporation of technological tactics opens the door to appropriating additional resources!

This Year’s Featured Speakers:

  • David Houlding~ Director of Healthcare Privacy & Security, Intel Health and Life Sciences 
  • Lori Melichar~ Director, Pioneer Portfolio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 
  • Jim Nasr ~ Chief Software Architect, CDC 
  • Harold Paz ~ Executive VP & CMO, Aetna 
  • Brian Behlendorf ~ Executive Director, The Hyperledger Project 
  • Francois de Brantes ~ VP & Director, Altarum Center for Payment Information 
  • John Bass ~ CEO, Hashed Health 
  • John Sotos ~ CMO, Intel Industry Sales Group 
  • Mike Jacobs ~ Engineer, Optum 

Hurdles

As of yet, cryptocurrencies have no sovereign regulation. Are crypto-coins just another commodity? In other words, what are they? Another red flag: blockchain technology risks detaching the human experience from medicine. A person’s real world identity is lost, though not a new problem in medicine, this technology may increase it. Too often are phrases heard like, “The kidney in 718 needs dialysis by tonight!” or “Are the sugars in room 1012 better controlled now?” Imagine how virtual examinations could intensify these kinds of interactions. Suddenly, the kidney in room 718 is an indiscriminate character behind a screen. Undeniably, connecting smart devices and medicine through the blockchain cloud offers solutions to redirect healthcare, though there are still bugs that need treated. This September, Distributed: Health speaker’s have an opportunity to provide us answers to last years question’s and address lingering security concerns!

For agenda and registration link, visit the DISTRIBUTED: HEALTH 2017 event page.

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Hashed Health, a Blockchain Healthcare Consortium

Hashed Health, a startup organization based in Nashville, has received $1.8 million to promote and develop blockchain-based healthcare technology. The sources are Martin Ventures and Fenbushi Capital.

Formed in 2016, Hashed Health describes itself as a blockchain healthcare consortium. COO Corey Todaro mentions that it includes “a broad range of types of organizations”. These organizations will coalesce into working groups. A Development Studio will accept ideas from the working groups and bring them from the proof-of-concept level to commercial products.

Hashed Health has joined the Hyperledger Healthcare Working Group. Its principal aim within the group is to work on blockchain libraries and protocols. Other organizations in the group include Accenture, Gem, Kaiser Permanente, and IBM. The working group’s aim is to evaluate use cases for blockchain technology in healthcare. It is turning over a set of 70 proposals to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Hashed Health is working on facilitating transactions

Hashed Health’s gateway projects include a demonstration of the ability to “improve data liquidity” in provider credentials. Confirming provider credentials and enrolling them in payment networks is a tedious process today. Payers often have inaccurate information; according to Hashed Health, the information in their directories is often as much as 20% wrong. Establishing credentials generally takes over 120 days. Patients endure the delays and costs. The complexity of the system is a major cause of high insurance premiums and out-of-pocket charges.

Hashed’s alternative is a “decentralized transaction layer” that holds provider information, including updates and corrections. “Digital data assets” are encrypted data items created by contributors to the blockchain. Only registered users can contribute, following the permissioned blockchain model. Transactions consist of transferring assets from one user to another, and all transactions are recorded on the blockchain. Client applications uses a REST API in peer-to-peer mode.

Auditability is a central goal. Lightweight clients will be able to audit the transaction records, with complete verification rather than just random samples. They can work directly with the blockchain, eliminating the need for a secure server. Providers are required to retain complex documentation for years. Doing this is costly under traditional methods. Blockchain records keep all the information together, protecting it from loss or alteration. Anyone authorized to access them can identify omissions without much trouble.

Blockchain Regulatory and cultural issues

Todaro recognizes that regulation is as big an issue as technology. HIPAA requirements for protection of personal information are strict, and fines for breaches can be huge. Sharing methods that could work in other industries aren’t always feasible in healthcare.

Beyond that, he says that “the biggest hurdle to the implementation of blockchain is the industry culture in healthcare.” Existing business models are based on holding on to data. The idea of sharing data in new ways is “threatening to a lot of enterprises.” Todaro recognizes that requiring organizations to change their workflows will run into heavy resistance; the new technology has to fit the workflow. The consortium’s goal is to develop new forms of organization and build new kinds of competence. It aims for a regulatory environment that will let blockchain approaches flourish.

The working group structure stresses collaboration rather than isolated development. Working together, they’ll be able to develop multiple proofs of concept in parallel, and the Development Studio will pick up the best of the ideas. Projects will stress open-source development.

The ideas which Hashed Health is promoting sound excellent. Businesses will have to work together to develop standards, make secure sharing part of the culture, and obtain a favorable regulatory environment . How much does the consortium have going for it? Does it include any influential members? These are the questions Hashed Health will have to answer in order to prove itself.

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Distributed: Health Inaugural Blockchain Conference for the Healthcare Industry

On October 3rd, technology and healthcare industry leaders converged in Nashville, Tennessee for Distributed Health’s first ever Healthcare Blockchain Conference. The event drew worldwide attention and offered cutting edge insights regarding the breakthrough blockchain trend in healthcare. The conference included an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, a 24 hour blockchain solution competition that unloaded over $30,000 in prize payouts, a Blockchain 101 course, and professional networking opportunities for those in attendance. The event appropriately took place in heart of Nashville, Tennessee, a world-renowned leader in the healthcare industry and home to 18 publicly traded companies.

Global Healthcare Blockchain Conference

The event has been covered by several leading publications and media outlets and has received recognition for its premiere presentation of issues related to block chain in healthcare. Productive Edge released an article directly following the event based on the conference’s performance offering encouragement to healthcare-technology professionals and hopefuls. Their publication listed observations that included establishing the credibility of the industry and the urgency for knowledgeable blockchain technologists needed to balance the supply and demand scale.

Blockchain in Healthcare Hackathon

The conference also held great rewards for up and coming developers who were awarded for their project submissions in the 24 hour Hackathon that was held October 1st-2nd. Veripharm took first place in the competition, winning $12,500 in BTC for their pharmaceutical supply accountability tracking blockchain application. HealthySELFIE, an eHealth wallet app, won $8,500 in travel, while others won lesser prize packages. Complete project submissions from the Hackathon have been posted by Distributed: Health online, where visitors can connect with applicants and support their favorites.

Industry professionals can look forward to more healthcare relevant blockchain events, conferences and contests to take place in the future as this trend continues to take off and create interest.

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