Blockchain Technology in the Healthcare industry - Crypto Academy / S4W3 - Homework Post for @yohan2on

Professor yohan2on talked about the impact of blockchain in healthcare this week. He logically explained the extent to which blockchain could solve problems in the healthcare industry.

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Blockchain seems to have affected many sectors, not just the financial sector, due to its decentralized structure, immutability of records, efficiency, transparency and distributed ledger technology. The healthcare industry also benefits from blockchain technology. Today, the health sector already has many problems. These problems can be easily solved with blockchain technology. Many companies in the healthcare industry seem to have adopted blockchain technology. Other companies and organizations have to adopt it as well, because blockchain technology is beneficial in many ways.

Blockchain Technology in the Health Sector

The benefits of blockchain technology in the health sector are quite high compared to many sectors. Blockchain projects started with Bitcoin in 2013, but the healthcare industry adopted blockchain technology a little late. The work of the health sector in the field of blockchain begins in 2016-2017. However, there is a very rapid growth in the field of health.

We know that Covid-19 poses a great threat to the whole world. Some blockchain companies have worked on Covid-19. One of these companies is VitalHub, a Canadian-based blockchain company founded in 2015.

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VitalHub has developed a blockchain-based project called DOcit Lite. DOcit Lite is the electronic scanning tool for Covid-19. In this way, it is possible to reach the symptoms and data related to the disease in a very short time efficiently. VitalHub offers this product to its users free of charge in long-term care and nursing homes.

Applications of Blockchain Technology in the Field of Health

Some areas in the healthcare industry are well suited to the use of blockchain technology. There is a very high potential in these areas. These; health information transfers, health research collection in one place (integrity), personal health records, confidentiality (storage) of health information, health billing, health claims records and drug supply chain.

Knowledge Transfers in the Field of Health

Keeping and storing patient information is one of the biggest challenges in the healthcare industry. Although third-party exchange of information is possible, it is specific to each organization, each company. Access of any health institution to the information in the other health institution can only be realized as a result of a permission. Even if it is allowed, this will cause quite a waste of time.

Blockchain technology has the potential to provide solutions for information transfer in the field of health. In terms of providing transparent and secure access to information, it provides great convenience in ensuring information exchange between patients and institutions.

Today, studies are carried out to take advantage of blockchain technology to facilitate patient information access and transfer information. There are Mayo Clinic, Healthcare Data Gateway, FHIRChain, Medrec, MedChain, Gem Health Network, MyPCR projects to produce solutions for health information transfers.

Collecting Health Researches in One Place

Today, it is not possible to collect health data and studies related to health in a single center due to the laws and rules of the states and the conditions of health institutions. This problem creates problems in terms of progress and efficiency of studies related to health.

The unchangeable structure of the blockchain will facilitate the work of health institutions in this regard in terms of providing distributed ledger technology and information integrity. In this way, there will be no obstacle in front of researches related to health.

It has become easier today to conduct scientific studies by collecting patient data and information in a single center. While patients' health information is stored on the blockchain, this data is not shared with anyone. It is possible for certain people to access these data while health-related studies are being carried out.

With validated data from patients, researchers have the opportunity to more accurately and more efficiently examine the effects of any particular treatment on patients.

Companies in the pharmaceutical industry can produce special medicines for patients using the data of errors.

Personal Health Records

There are projects created using blockchain technology on personal health records. By making use of the various features of the blockchain, personal health records are protected and controlled in a highly secure manner so that designated persons can access them. In this way, it will cause academic studies to progress more effectively and safely.

Patients have the opportunity to share their personal information with doctors. The fact that patients have the option to share their disease information with any doctor within their own control will further accelerate the progress in health.

There is a MedVault project developed on this subject. Patients use the QR code to access their own data on the blockchain. In addition, doctors also provide the opportunity to access the patient's health-related information by using data matrix.

Privacy of Health Information

It is the most natural right of patients to want their health information to be kept confidential. In some countries, there are various laws regarding the protection of these rights, but malicious healthcare workers access and share disease information with various companies. In return, he gets financial gains. It is possible to prevent this through blockchain technology. With private blockchain projects and smart contracts, we can securely store health information on the blockchain.

Billing and Payments

As in all sectors, there is a commercial relationship in the health sector as well. Invoicing and payments are not fulfilled from time to time and the receiving party suffers from this. With smart contracts this problem can be eliminated very easily. After the necessary conditions are met, the payment will be made automatically through smart contracts between the payer and the buyer.

In this way, since transactions are carried out securely, payments will be made, grievances will be eliminated and time savings will be achieved.

Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

We know that counterfeit medicines are very common in countries that are both economically, socially and educationally backward. Counterfeit medicines will cause economic and health damage to the patient. His illness will worsen and perhaps die. For this reason, counterfeit drugs are one of the most important problems. Whether the drugs are real or not can be checked with blockchain technology. Processes such as the production of the drug, its consumption, the authenticity of the drug, the rate of use, the percentage of success, and the launch of the drug can be monitored on the blockchain with smart contracts.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Blockchain Technology in the Health Sector

In this section, we will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain technology in the health sector.

Advantages

• Blockchain technology eliminates 3rd party people. Therefore, the costs in the health sector will be greatly reduced and savings will be achieved in every aspect.

• Because blockchain technology is highly transparent, it will eliminate negativities in the pharmaceutical supply chain. The amount of counterfeit drugs will gradually decrease. Thus, patients will be protected both economically and in terms of health.

• Pharmaceutical companies will have a better opportunity in their work on health, as healthcare professionals can see the information recorded on the blockchain very easily.

• It will be easier for patients to access their own information and for doctors to access patients' information.

• Since it is not possible to change the information recorded on the blockchain, people's trust in the health sector will increase.

Disadvantages

• It must be admitted that the blockchain has a very complex structure. It will take a long time to teach people this technology. Because people do not want to give up traditional methods.

• Different protocols are difficult to match. Although studies have been carried out on synchronization, this has not been fully achieved yet. For example, it is difficult to run a project on the Steem blockchain in harmony with a project on a different blockchain.

• The scalability problem in blockchains has not been solved yet. Recording, storing, processing the disease information of people all over the world will cause congestion of the network.

• We know that triggering smart contracts on blockchains like Ethereum is costly in terms of transaction fees. Triggering a smart contract will incur extra costs for patients.

Conclusion

We know that blockchain technology has a very high potential in many sectors and produces many solutions in these sectors. There are also current uses and potential areas of use in the health sector.

It is a technology with the potential to remove the obstacles to progress in the health sector and to produce solutions. For this technology to develop sufficiently, all people must embrace it.

Blockchain technology will ensure that the services in the health sector are carried out more transparently, faster and more cost-effectively, and will prevent copying and counterfeiting.

Thank you professor yohan2on for this useful and fruitful lecture.

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