The dynamic nature of the blockchain technology has the capacity to transform so many sectors beyond the financial industry. Often when it comes to the uses of the blockchain technology, people tend to limit their imaginations to only the financial realm. Well, the multi-functional aspects of this very helpful technology can and has been applied in various sectors. By far we have seen its stunning results in the field of education, banking, payment systems, IoT (internet of things), shopping, and so on. In this article, we will explore how this very amazing technology can be applied to the health care industry. We are sure the excellent use-cases of the blockchain technology will surely benefit the healthcare industry.
The blockchain technology has innate qualities of-
- Transparency,
- Accuracy,
- Time-stamped transactions,
- Mathematical calculations,
- Immense capacity to record and store data,
- High speed,
- Low costs,
- World-wide access, and so on.
These qualities will force any industry to be more accountable, effective, accurate, quick, and cost-effective- wherever the blockchain technology gets applied to. Since we are talking about the health care industry- let us see where and how the blockchain technology can help it-
Medical data management-
Healthcare industry gets flooded with a great amount of information of all kinds. Be it patient information, patient’s medical history records, medicine records, hospital’s admin records, billing records, and so on. Since the beginning this was being managed by people, then with the help of computers and the internet, but it is now the time to make it even more efficient. The blockchain technology can swiftly take care of the data management and save a lot of costs, time, and the valuable effort that can be used elsewhere. Several researches and use-cases are getting tested to make this very helpful quality to get manifested.
The Cost-effective Blockchain Technology-
The transparent nature of the blockchain technology can help the doctors as well as the patients to get an estimation of how much treatment and the related care will cost. The data can be used by the patient to compare between the various options available out there to make the right and unbiased choice.
Another use of this quality is for the patient to be able to sell their medical information for the research purposes. Blockchain technology allows the patients to store their data on it to make it accessible to many.
Medical record keeping-
The patients’ medical information such as x-rays, scans, medicine history, dosage, prescribed drugs, results of operations, number of operations, etc.; all can be stored on the blockchain ledger. Once such information is stored on the network, it then becomes accessible to doctors and researchers worldwide. It can massively help to improve the quality of medical operations and access to medical knowledge and its latest developments. The information can be easily viewed through smart devices such as mobile, computers, etc., by both the patients as well as the doctors.
Enhanced emergency Medical Relief efforts-
Anytime an unfortunate emergency arises, the defense agencies have to feel tied up due to centrally governed management systems. The defense agencies’ efforts and time spread thin due to the presence of several agencies that are involved. In such a situation, a decentralized, transparent, and directly accessible nature of the blockchain technology can be highly effective. The data stored on the blockchain ledger can then be accessed and easily be tracked by the working agencies. The live nature of the blockchain technology can be highly efficient in situations like these, and therefore save a lot of lives. The crucial effort can be directed in the right direction without any wastage of time and money.
There are so many other ways in which the blockchain technology can be used. The blockchain technology can save a lot of lives by stopping the use of counterfeit drugs usage by making the information more accessible to the blockchain ledger. Other uses can be open access to the electronic health records for both the doctors and the patients, clinical trials can be easily tapped and followed, verification of medical credentials can be checked, the healthcare transactions can become more secure and well-directed with the blockchain technology, and the over interaction between the various components of the health care industry such as patients, doctors, institutions, researchers, medical retailers, medicine manufacturing units, etc. can be vastly improved.
