While the principles of blockchain were first used in the world of finance as the technology that permitted Bitcoin to function, it has applications for many other industries, including healthcare.

With blockchain there’s no one central administrator; however, it comes with exceptional security advantages since records are distributed across a network of repeated databases, which are always synchronized. Users are only able to update the block they have access to, and such updates become repeated across the network. All entries are date and time stamped.

What are potential applications of blockchain in healthcare?

Though there are some amazingly fascinating ways blockchain can improve healthcare operations, experts from Ottawa based BedRock IT company notice that it will not be a cure-all for the industry today; however, it will surely be a step in the right direction.

The healthcare industry has a lot of data such as medical research, patient medical records, clinical trials, complex billing and more. Adoption and use of blockchains will be an advancement over time since blockchain applications are scrutinized and adopted and also the industry is teaming up to determine issues with governance and collaboration.

Information security

This is a hot topic, and not just in the healthcare industry. The world is filled with criminals looking for information, which may be used to rip people off their hard-earned money.

Healthcare info is beneficial on the black market since it has enough information to open accounts in financial institutions, commit identity theft, or access health savings accounts.

The healthcare field doesn’t have the money to secure their data like the banks do, so getting an affordable and more secure way to protect healthcare information can be a really welcome development.

Medical Research

Centralizing clinical trial results and patient results for new treatment protocols will enhance care and patient results.

At present, with all the wide-ranging and disconnected systems in play, there’s no means for an individual to process all the information that is produced and documented in different systems for the possibility of future treatments.

Blockchains could offer the access to make medical advancement faster.

Processing of claims

Processing of medical claims is usually manual and slow. Most intermediaries take part in making payments to healthcare companies depending on the insurance coverage of the patient, which leads to frequent mistakes and lengthy processes.

With regulations built into blockchain smart contracts and development of the contract added to the hands of business users, intermediaries can be eradicated, and the system can manage itself. The management of patient claims would be more secure, and claims would be paid faster and with fewer mistakes.

Drug development and integrity of the supply chain

Not only might blockchain make it easy for new drug development by making the results of patients more accessible (if authorized by the patients), it can help decrease the counterfeit drug ramifications that presently cost drug manufacturing companies approximately $200 billion in losses each year.