Blockchain in healthcare is used for everything from securing patient data and managing the pharmaceutical supply chain.The United States spent almost 20 percent of its GDP on healthcare in 2020 — a record high. If that statistic wasn’t jarring enough, consider that the industry continues to be plagued by high hospital costs, inefficient practices and constant data breaches. These very expensive problems are spurring a drive for greater efficiency and innovation.
With its ability to deflate the current spending bubble, protect patient data and improve overall experience, using blockchain in healthcare may help ease the pain. The technology is already being used to do everything from securely encrypt patient data to manage the outbreak of harmful diseases.
Blockchain and Data Security
Keeping our important medical data safe and secure is the most popular blockchain healthcare application at the moment, which isn’t surprising. Security is a major issue in the healthcare industry. There were 692 large healthcare data breaches reported between July 2021 and June 2022. The perpetrators stole credit card and banking information, as well as health and genomic testing records.
Blockchain’s ability to keep an incorruptible, decentralized and transparent log of all patient data makes it a technology rife for security applications. Additionally, while blockchain is transparent, it is also private, concealing the identity of any individual with complex and secure codes that can protect the sensitivity of medical data. The decentralized nature of the technology also allows patients, doctors and healthcare providers to share the same information quickly and safely.
Blockchain in Medical Record
Waste from factors like administrative complexity and failure of care coordination in U.S. healthcare costs around $760 billion to $935 billion each year.
The time consuming process of obtaining access to a patient’s medical records exhausts staff resources and delays patient care. Blockchain-based medical records offer a cure for these ills.
The decentralized nature of the technology creates one ecosystem of patient data that can be efficiently referenced by doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and anyone else involved in treatment. In this way, the blockchain can lead to better diagnoses and personalized care plans.
Blockchain and Medical Supply Chain Management
How much do we really know about our medicine? Can we be sure it hasn’t been tampered with? Is it coming from a legitimate supplier? These questions are the primary concerns of the medical supply chain, or the link between the lab and the marketplace.
Blockchain has serious implications for pharmaceutical supply chain management, and its decentralization virtually guarantees full transparency in the shipping process. Once a ledger for a drug is created, it will mark the point of origin. The ledger will then continue to record data every step of the way, including who handled it and where it has been, until it reaches the consumer. The process can even monitor labor costs and waste emissions.
Breakthroughs in Genomics with BlockChain
The potential of genomics to improve the future of human health, once a dream, is now a scientific and financial reality. In 2001, it cost $1 billion to process a human genome. As of 2021, the cost had fallen below $1,000.
Blockchain is a perfect fit for this growing industry as it can safely house billions of genetic data points. It’s even become a marketplace where people can sell their encrypted genetic information to create a wider database, giving scientists access to valuable data faster than ever before.
These three companies are using blockchain to further our understanding of the most basic building blocks of human life.