Blockchain can make people’s lives easier as it finds itself more room in our lives, and when it does so, people will just wonder why we have not though of this before. In our previous blog “How can the world of sports get along with blockchain technology?”, we talked about potential scenarios for cryptocurrencies playing a more prominent role in the world of sports. Today, we will talk about how it can be adapted to the health sector and what benefits it can provide.
Health sector and digitalization
A boon of the modern age, all records in the health sector are kept on digital systems. Everything can now be managed online. However, there are deficiencies compromising the reliability, accessibility and transparency of these records.
- One always hears about hacker groups taking over databases of companies from different industries in the world and in Turkey.
- One example is America’s healthcare industry in a not distant past. That brought the idea of using blockchain for digital databases to the forefront.
Blockchain can prevent problems related to the security of data. As well as safe storage, blockchain can also ensure data security. For example, when the information in a patient’s medical history is updated, this will be reflected across all other blocks thanks to the distributed ledger system of the blockchain.
Pandemic gives rise to new requirements
The onset of the pandemic sparked innovation around the world, particularly in the healthcare industry.
- All countries benefited from digital applications to determine the number of cases, the number of tests, the number of deaths, the number of intubated patients, the distribution of cases by city and region, and citizens who are vaccinated and not.
- All data was collected thanks to these applications. This was a period of rigorous digital data collection on a scale never seen before.
As Yakup Bayrak notes in his article, “The Unbearable Pain of Not Being Able to Trust Information,” blockchain based systems are capable of making our lives easier in this respect. It might not be a perfect transition from the old way of doing things to the digital but we will be more skilled at handling this new technology as we get more familiar with it. Putting to use exceptional skills and by employing a thorough approach, it is possible to take full advantage of blockchain.
Thanks to the system, we can have more reliable data on segments of the population most affected by Covid-19. Realistic and specific data such as “X percent of diabetics and Y percent of people with allergic reactions suffer from the disease more severely” can be obtained. And anyone can access them.
Information is not limited to patient records
When it comes to the health sector, patients’ medical records are the first thing that comes to mind, but there are other sectors dependent on this sector. The insurance and medicine sectors are foremost among them.
If the data owned by insurance and pharmaceutical companies on institutions and individuals are kept in a blockchain-based system, everyone will be able to receive a fair service.
Even price differences between institutions, security and quality problems can be eliminated using the blockchain infrastructure. Public and private institutions will be able to step outside the rules set by the state. If they do not, it will be easier to prove.
Blockchain-based health applications in other countries
- The USA and some European countries started working on blockchain-based health applications a long time ago.
- Systems such as Ethereum-based ‘Healthureum’, Tierion, which works in cooperation with Philips Blockchain Labs, and MedRec, on which MIT’s Media Lab is currently working, are promising.
- Each initiative is moving towards a successful end with funding received from major businesses in the field. Their goal is to create a transparent medical infrastructure, accurately deliver useful services such as medical consultation, and create a data system containing accurate and comprehensive information. Blockchain makes it easier to achieve these goals because of its features.
Being able to use blockchain in all areas of life not only offers speed, time, and trust, but also paves the way for a fair and transparent world. After all, access to correct information is one of the most natural rights in the world, isn’t it?
Bu içerik en son 26 October 2022 tarihinde güncellenmiştir.
