Top 7 Use Cases of Blockchain in the Healthcare Industry

Blockchain is preparing to disrupt the healthcare industry after taking the financial world by storm with its decentralized payment system. Indeed, many corporations in the health sector have already begun to implement this technology. According to Statista, almost 55 per cent of healthcare applications will adopt blockchain for saleable deployment by 2025. But why do businesses use blockchain for healthcare?

Its decentralized and cryptographic nature also facilitates secure storage and transfer of patient medical records and complicates access for unauthorized parties. This is not all; blockchain enables more efficiency in the medicine supply chain.

Leading healthcare companies worldwide have identified blockchain’s potential to shape the industry. They use it to securely handle patient data, improve medicine supply chain management, and prevent fraud. This blog sheds some light on blockchain in healthcare industry use cases.

Cases of Blockchain Applications in Healthcare

Blockchain’s applications in healthcare range from improving patient data management and interoperability to managing the supply chain of medical products and health payments. With the help of a blockchain development agency, let’s consider the top use cases of blockchain technology within the healthcare sector.

• Patient Data Management

One of the most practical uses of blockchain in the health sector is patient data management. Whether patients store their health records, social security numbers, or bank account details, blockchain encryption systems secure such data storage. Distributed ledger technology ensures that transfers of patients’ medical records are safe and secure from unwanted persons accessing them.

• Store the Records of Clinical Trials

Researchers usually record much data while conducting clinical trials for new medicines or researching a new disease. This immutability feature ensures that trial data cannot be manipulated. Blockchain helps record changes made in clinical trials and further tracks the details of changes.

• Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Management

Fake drugs are a massive problem in the health system. It is prevalent and sometimes even hazardous as well. Counterfeit drugs may comprise poisonous ingredients that may have devastating consequences on a patient’s health. Sometimes, illegitimate drugs, after their expiry date, are repackaged with fake labels. Such drugs become a significant health hazard.

Blockchain in the healthcare industry can rectify these problems and optimize supply chain management. Blockchain-based systems can record every level of the drug supply chain, quickly identifying and removing fake drugs. Besides, blockchain can be used to monitor drug life cycles in healthcare.

• Telemedicine and Remote Monitoring

It can make access to quality healthcare available among people in remote areas. However, it relies on exchanging sensitive health data between patients and healthcare providers and is prone to cyber threats. Blockchain for healthcare can remove this risk as the technology offers a decentralized and more secure platform for data exchange. Blockchain provides a safe platform for the easy integration of wearable IoT devices, thereby making it easier to monitor a patient’s progress remotely.

• Interoperable Health Data Exchange

Sometimes, patients are treated by many specialists who need to access all information regarding the patient’s previous health history to diagnose better, treat, and manage their health. However, maintaining the patient’s entire health record and further sharing it with all doctors and healthcare providers is a cumbersome task.

Blockchain development agency makes possible interoperable health data exchange by surmounting significant barriers, such as inconsistent data formats and data privacy and security-related concerns.

• Tracking Doctors’ and Health Workers’ Credentials

If patients need to visit a doctor, they would like to verify the doctor’s credentials before booking an appointment. Thus, blockchain technology will play a significant role in tracking and verifying doctors’ and healthcare workers’ credentials through its immutable, decentralized ledger. After adding any credential, a healthcare expert cannot modify or delete it.

• Healthcare Payments

In this scenario, transactions and claims processing are part of the day-to-day activities of hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres, and health insurance companies. The process involves a lot of credit card sharing, bank account details, and other sensitive information. With the growing count of data breach incidents, securing payment details has become more critical than ever.

Conclusion

The potential for blockchain in the healthcare industry is undeniable. This powerful tool of blockchain can be used by healthcare organizations to secure sensitive medical information, thereby increasing the speed of data exchange to make operations easier and facilitate better services to their patients. This will also save precious time and money for healthcare providers and their patients with blockchain applications.

AUTHOR BIO:  Devin Booker is a seasoned Blockchain developer. She has been in the industry for over a decade and has authored numerous articles and columns.