Today, investors, technologists, researchers and various organizations have been researching and experimenting with blockchain in every industry bringing in revolutionary changes. According to Deloitte’s report which targeted executives from various organizations viewed blockchain as a top 5 strategic priority. Healthcare is no exception. 

In the age of big data, low and middle-income countries such as Nepal have not been able to utilize existing technologies to harness the vast information collected by its bureaucracy. Digital health is still in its infancy in Nepal. Walk into any hospital in Nepal and chances are that you will find stacks on stacks of patient data folders and registries taking up space in cramped storage spaces. The next logical steps to increase the efficiency of traditional healthcare services are to use digital tools.  

An Electronic Health Records (EHR) is a digitized version of storing patient’s health records. EHR is basically designed to store accurate data on patient health status across time. One of the key features of an EHR Market is, health information can be easily generated and managed by the authorized person in a digital format. There are many pilot projects that are struggling to follow through with fully scaled project implementation due to lack of sustainable financing and high risk to individual sta+keholders. The big hospitals in Nepal have some form of digitized health services however, they are designed in isolation from the wider ecosystem. Most hospitals in Nepal do not use interoperable standards which is a major issue in the healthcare market

Blockchain has the power to bring out a massive breakthrough in the healthcare ecosystem as it can easily bring specific changes in the healthcare management of the patient. Here is how blockchain can be used to disrupt the healthcare industry.

Drug Tracking. A few years from now, Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA),  in the US will require the parties involved in the pharmaceutical supply chain to join interoperable electronic systems that will allow them to track each drug throughout the entire supply chain. And, when it comes to tracking of the supply chain, no other solutions come close to the blockchain. “The most prominent beneficiaries of the technology will be the pharmaceutical companies, which lose approximately $200 billion to counterfeit drugs each year. By enabling complete visibility and transparency throughout the drug supply chain, blockchain will allow tracking of drugs to their point of origin and thus, help to eliminate falsified medication, reducing revenue loss by up to $43 billion annually for pharma companies,” says BIR Research in a their new market intelligence report titled “Global Blockchain in Healthcare Market- Analysis and Forecast, 2017-2025.”Related blockchain application: FarmaTrust

Tracking of blood journey. Recently, a child died following transfusion of wrong blood type in Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center. When it comes to blood a simple human error like this can cost a life. This makes proper and immutable tracking of blood journey very important Here is how the blockchain can help. The information recorded on the blood bag and the entire blood journey can be recorded and tracked using blockchain. The records are decentralized and immutable, In the case of human error, the concerned person or the department can be held accountable for their actions, this will make them extra careful. Similarly, medical personals and blood donors track and also see how their blood was used. 

Related blockchain application: LifeBank

Solution for medical staff credentialing. can be a costly and time-consuming effort that is conducted via phone calls, faxes, and snail-mail. Because blockchains can be verified and updated incrementally, the technology may be well suited for the credentialing process.  Blockchain encryption applications and access limitations create a secure database that can be accessed across all those participating in the chain. Each data contributor may be granted access to the entire ledger, or access can be restricted. Related blockchain application:  Hashed Health, Medicalchain

Keeping patient data secure. Patient data may contain personal as well as vulnerable information about the patient.  Such information should be kept secure. No third party should be able to access and use the patient’s data without the consent of the patient. Blockchain-based solutions like Medicalchaino provide patients full control and ownership of their information. In such a way that. Related blockchain application:  Medicalchain

Interoperability in healthcare organizations. A patient might have to visit different healthcare organizations for the cure, depending upon the medical facilities provided by the healthcare organizations. For instance, A doctor might refer a patient to another specialist. In such case, the patient will have to physically carry around all your medical records and reports from one doctor to another. That’s a big no-no in the age of instant everything. Without a single source of truth available, providers don’t always have the full picture of a patient’s medical history and have to make decisions based on fragmented information. And with the increased use of wearable devices and mobile medical apps, it is becoming even more difficult to capture all patient health information in one place. Blockchain technology has the potential to enable a patient-centric healthcare system in which providers would have access to complete and unaltered medical records. Health data written to the blockchain would be “shared” on a distributed digital ledger, creating a level of interoperability not currently possible. Data could be exchanged seamlessly between organizations that would otherwise have to work through different data systems built by different vendors. Related blockchain application:  MedRec

ConclusionThere are numbers of blockchain use cases in healthcare that have the potential to transform the entire healthcare sector. The only issue now is getting healthcare providers to adopt the blockchain systems on a wider scale. Once mass adoption occurs, it will foster the improvement of the entire healthcare system.

-Anushka and Ankit