Blockchain: The Future Solution for Disparate Health Data?

But what is blockchain and what can it do for healthcare? In short, blockchain is a decentralized database where every single detail about our health could be stored and automatically confirmed without intervention. Although the database is accessible to every doctor, only those people can see the data to whom the patient gives explicit consent. This could not only mark the end of the expensive interoperability madness (which makes transferring medical records between institutions a nightmare), but could also lead to the better protection of patient privacy regarding electronic health records.

Secure health data management

Even though blockchain sounds very futuristic, the concept is actually quite old, as it has been gaining some popularity over the last few years. Companies like Deloitte, IBM, PA Consulting Group and Tierion already issued a number of research papers on the material, even exploring the pros of the blockchain technology in the healthcare sector.

Moreover, blockchain not only allows hospitals, labs, insurance companies and others to have real-time access to complete and fully updated health records, but it is also safer than uploading everything to a massive cloud database. In fact, since records are stored on decentralized blockchains, patients can rest assured that their data are fully secured and are virtually immune to hacker attacks.

First impact

And what does the future hold for blockchain in healthcare? According to IBM’s study, a very prosperous one. As a matter of fact, the same study, which involved 200 healthcare executives, stated that the implementation of a commercial blockchain solution is expected to happen by 2017 or, as the majority of healthcare officials believe, by the start of the new decade. This leads to the conclusion that blockchain made a great first impact, with executives highlighting the fact that it promises a huge improvement in a more accurate and safer management of sensitive health data.

While blockchain indeed seems a much-needed solution and a nice concept that gives patients the ultimate word, only time will tell whether it becomes a common practice not only in the U.S. but in other parts of the world too.