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The Wall Street Journal recently noted that the United States" will soon spend almost 20% of its GDP "on health care To be able to cope with rising healthcare costs in the immediate future, there are steps that can be taken to address customer service issues and efficiency to improve health care experience. general, while ensuring the protection of customer privacy, was a flurry of excitement for the role that blockchain technology could play in the long-term transformation of health care in the US.
Recently I spoke with some people who are deeply informed about the challenges facing health care and how to bring solutions like blockchain John Halamka is Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from Boston, a Harvard University Hospital, a position he has held since 1998. He also served as a CIO for the Harvard Medical School from 2001 to 2012. Halamka recently took over as head editor of the new academic journal, [19659004] Blockchain in Healthcare Today . In the inaugural issue, published in March of this year, Halamka has proclaimed his manifesto: "As editor-in-chief of Blockchain in Healthcare Today my goal is to publish opinion articles and research papers of high quality on use cases that really require blockchain ". Halamka continued, "Using only blockchain in the health sector because it's beautiful does not make sense."
Halamka knows what he's talking about. In his Journal call to action, Halamka continues: "In 2017, I worked on several blockchain production applications, so I make sense of what works and what does not, Blockchain is not meant for archiving large data sets Blockchain is not a platform for analysis, Blockchain has very slow transactional performance, but as a tamper-proof public registry blockchain is ideal for the job test, Blockchain is highly resilient. " I asked Halamka about the biggest challenges for the healthcare industry where blockchain could make a difference. Noting that blockchain is ideal for ensuring data integrity where control is decentralized, Halamka cites three important opportunities:
- Medical documents. When a medical record is generated and signed, it can be written on the blockchain, which will provide absolute proof and the certainty that a medical record can not be changed. The integrity of the medical record is guaranteed. The same concept can be applied to clinical trials. This also has an impact on legal cases in which the integrity of the medical record is crucial.
- Management of consent . In the current healthcare environment where each state has different privacy and consent laws, blockchain could be used to record patient consent for data sharing purposes. & Nbsp; & nbsp; Any party trying to exchange medical data about a patient could check the blockchain for permission to do so.
- Micropayments . The idea that powerful patients are incentivized is gaining traction. If a patient follows a care plan, keeps their appointments and stays healthy, there may be benefits offered through the blockchain. Likewise, patients could be rewarded for contributing their data to clinical trials and clinical research using the same approach.
Tory Cenaj, Blockchain's founder and editor in Healthcare Today, adds: "Blockchain technology can elevate service excellence and increase the participation of & nbsp; own health and data." Greg Matthews, whose mission is data-driven innovation in the healthcare sector, and creator of MDigitalLife a platform to track digital trends in the healthcare industry, offers an additional perspective, "Blockchain could have the greatest impact on health care outcomes that take a 360 ° view of the patient's genetic profile, demographic and socioeconomic status, behaviors that impact on their health and their response to different treatments or combinations of treatments ". Matthews continues: "These data exist today in one form or another, but they can be tremendously difficult to stitch together at the individual level." Blockchain can enable "profile stitching" and do so in order to protect identity. of the patient.
A future blockchain?
Halamka observes how the blockchain is ideal for dealing with the challenge of decentralizing medical data. "Most health data is centralized at the company level, health facility or government register, "notes Halamka." Blockchain is decentralized and therefore unaffected by the behavior of any organization. & Nbsp; & Nbsp; In the future we may see blockchain as part of a system where patients act as administrators of their data, rather than relying on any central source. "Matthews agrees:" We were unable to aggregate patient data into one place and secure them so that only the patient is in control and can make decisions with whom they want to share them. "[19659003] Matthews imagines a future in which blockchain would play a vital role in improving health. Nbsp; & nbsp; Observes: "Using blockchain in combination with artificial intelligence and machine learning, we should be able to discover potential solutions to health problems that are devastating today for us." Matthews continues : "The dream of personalized medicine seemed an almost insurmountable problem 10 years ago due to the technical challenges of linking data types and their use izzo to find models through huge amounts of data. Today, the dream is more threatened by the damage that personalized medicine could do if the data and the intuitions it produces were improperly used. "Concludes," Blockchain could be the basis of the solution, with the patient having the ultimate control over their data. and how it is used. "
Halamka remains cautious, but observes that technical challenges pose obstacles to the adoption of blockchain initiatives in the health sector." It's slow, it's awkward to use, the number of steps needed to get and putting data on blockchain is numerous and complex. "There is hope, however." There are "blockchain-as-a-service" products that try to solve these problems, but they are very soon, "observes Halamka.
Matthews and Cenaj stress that, in addition to these technical challenges, there are significant obstacles that also hinder the adoption of blockchain. "Legacy regulation, politics and practices prevent the United States from assuming re a leadership role. The value for shareholders is not equal to the value of the patient. It may take 10-15 years, unless policy changes are implemented quickly, "commented Cenaj Matthews observes:" Until we have a policy change at the highest levels of government, I do not think blockchain will be more than a solution. timely for data security. However, I am convinced that when we finally have clarity on who owns patient data, the transformation into personalized medicine could happen quickly. "
Despite his pragmatism and prudence, Halamka is optimistic about the future of blockchain in the health sector "Now there are production applications in the healthcare sector that use blockchain and will become more common in the next year. & Nbsp; & nbsp; Like any innovation, we will go through a phase of exaggeration, a phase of disappointment and eventually you will reach a broad adoption. & Nbsp; & nbsp; Expect three years before there is a universal adoption of blockchain-related products. "If Halamha were correct, we could see the blockchain drive health transformation ahead of schedule.
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The Wall Street Journal recently noted that the United States "will soon spend almost 20% of its GDP" on health care. it may not be possible to address rising healthcare costs in the immediate future, there are steps that can be taken to address customer service issues and efficiency to improve overall health care experience , while ensuring the protection of customer privacy. , there was a flurry of excitement about the role that blockchain technology could play in the long-term transformation of health care in the United States.
I recently spoke to some people who have a deep understanding of the challenges facing health care and solutions like blockchain John Halamka is Chief Information Officer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Harvard University Hospital, a little bit he has held since 1998. He also served as an IOC for the Harvard Medical School from 2001 to 2012. Halamka recently took over as head editor of the new academic journal, Blockchain in Healthcare Today . In the inaugural issue, published in March of this year, Halamka has proclaimed his manifesto: "As editor-in-chief of Blockchain in Healthcare Today my goal is to publish opinion articles and research papers of high quality on use cases that really require blockchain ". Halamka continued, "Using only blockchain in the health sector because it's beautiful does not make sense."
Halamka knows what he's talking about. In his Journal call to action, Halamka continues: "In 2017, I worked on several blockchain production applications, so I make sense of what works and what does not, Blockchain is not meant for archiving large data sets Blockchain is not a platform for analysis, Blockchain has very slow transactional performance, but as a tamper-proof public registry blockchain is ideal for the job test, Blockchain is highly resilient. " I asked Halamka about the biggest challenges for the healthcare industry where blockchain could make a difference. Noting that blockchain is ideal for ensuring data integrity where control is decentralized, Halamka cites three important opportunities:
- Medical Records. When a medical record is generated and signed, it can be written on the blockchain, which will provide absolute proof and the certainty that a medical record can not be changed. The integrity of the medical record is guaranteed. The same concept can be applied to clinical trials. This also has an impact on legal cases in which the integrity of the medical record is crucial.
- Management of consent . In the current healthcare environment where each state has different privacy and consent laws, blockchain could be used to record patient consent for data sharing purposes. Any party trying to exchange medical data about a patient could check the blockchain for permission to do so.
- Micropayments . The idea that powerful patients are incentivized is gaining traction. If a patient follows a care plan, keeps their appointments and stays healthy, there may be benefits offered through the blockchain. Likewise, patients could be rewarded for contributing their data to clinical trials and clinical research using the same approach.
Tory Cenaj, Blockchain's founder and editor in Healthcare Today, adds: "Blockchain technology can elevate service excellence and increase participation in owning one's health and data." Greg Matthews, whose mission is innovation focused on data in the health sector, and is the creator of MDigitalLife a platform to track digital trends in the health sector, offers an additional perspective, "Blockchain could have the greatest impact in health care health outcomes that take a 360 ° view of the patient's genetic profile, their demographic and socioeconomic status, behaviors that impact on their health and their response to treatments or combinations of different treatments ". Matthews continues: "These data exist today in one form or another, but they can be tremendously difficult to stitch together at the individual level." Blockchain can enable "profile stitching", and do so in a way that protects the & # 39; Patient Identity
A Future Blockchain?
Halamka notes how the blockchain is ideal for addressing the challenge of decentralizing medical data. "Most health data is centralized at the company level, health facility or government register, "notes Halamka." Blockchain is decentralized and therefore not influenced by the behavior of any organization. In the future we may see blockchain as part of a system where patients act as administrators of their data, rather than relying on any central source. "Matthews agrees:" We were unable to aggregate patient data into one place and assure them so that only the patient has control and can make decisions with whom they want to share them. "[19659003] Matthews imagines a future in which blockchain would play a vital role in improving health. "Using blockchain in combination with artificial intelligence and machine learning, we should be able to discover potential solutions to the health problems that are devastating for us today." Matthews continues: "The dream of medicine custom appeared 10 years ago an almost insurmountable problem due to the technical challenges related to linking data types and using them to find models through huge amounts of data. Today, the dream is more threatened by the damage that personalized medicine could do if the data and the intuitions it produces were improperly used. "Concludes," Blockchain could be the basis of the solution, with the patient having the ultimate control over their data. and how it is used. "
Halamka remains cautious, but observes that technical challenges pose obstacles to the adoption of blockchain initiatives in the health sector." It's slow, it's awkward to use, the number of steps needed to get and putting data on blockchain is numerous and complex. "There is hope, however." There are "blockchain-as-a-service" products that try to solve these problems, but they are very soon, "observes Halamka.
Matthews and Cenaj stress that, in addition to these technical challenges, there are significant obstacles that also hinder the adoption of blockchain. "Legacy regulation, politics and practices prevent the United States from assuming re a leadership role. The value for shareholders is not equal to the value of the patient. It may take 10-15 years, unless policy changes are implemented quickly, "commented Cenaj Matthews observes:" Until we have a policy change at the highest levels of government, I do not think blockchain will be more than a solution. timely for data security. However, I am convinced that when we finally have clarity on who owns patient data, the transformation into personalized medicine could happen quickly. "
Despite his pragmatism and prudence, Halamka is optimistic about the future of blockchain in the health sector "Now there are production applications in the healthcare sector that use blockchain and will become more common in the next year. Like any innovation, we will go through a phase of exaggeration, a phase of disappointment and finally reach a broad adoption. Expect three years before there is a universal adoption of products related to the blockchain. "If Halamha is correct, we could see the blockchain drive health transformation ahead of schedule.
