DOD looks at blockchain for medical use cases – GCN

DOD looks at the blockchain for medical use cases

With medical supply chain security at the fore now that COVID-19 vaccines are on the verge of delivery, the military is taking a closer look at the opportunities that blockchain offers, not just to improve logistics and ensure chain operations. procurement, but also to authenticate the identities of healthcare professionals and facilitate rapid decision making.

Distributed ledger technology could facilitate multi-factor authentication, ensuring that the people entering data into the system are who they say they are, have the proper medical credentials, and are authorized to access patient equipment and data. said Dr. Bruce Doll, assistant vice president of technology research and innovation at Uniformed Services University, the government’s military-supporting health academy. In a speech at FCW’s December 2 Health IT workshop, Doll said blockchain could also help protect the privacy of medical records and accelerate the delivery and acceptance of orders or decisions because the need to evaluate the source of the directive would be deleted.

In emergencies where decisions need to be made quickly, blockchain could help spread the “fog of war,” Doll said, establishing an immutable register of choices, providing leaders with documentation on how decisions were made, and reducing individuals. points of failure. Similarly, in medical research, the blockchain can establish the provenance of data, ensuring the integrity of shared data and potentially accelerating discoveries.

Finally, blockchain can improve the efficiency of supply chain management, reducing the risk of counterfeit equipment. “Using a blockchain to follow the process from actual production to the point where it is delivered to whoever requested it is considered a big plus for where this technology is located,” Doll said.

While it’s premature to consider using blockchain to track vaccine distribution, the technology is ideal for tracking the vaccine from manufacturer to patient, he said.