5 Use cases of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare

Among the most important technologies to emerge in the last decade, blockchain has the potential to alter everything from finance to e-commerce to entertainment. One of the most hyped infrastructural innovations in modern history, if not the most hyped.

What appears to be most promising, however, is the implementation of blockchain technology in the healthcare industry, which will likely change the way medical institutions diagnose diseases, treat patients for improved health outcomes, and maintain healthcare data safely and efficiently. Healthcare organizations are increasingly looking to engage with companies that offer blockchain development services to take advantage of the technology’s potential. Learn blockchain to get well versed with the technology. Getting into a blockchain degree course will give you great mileage in your career.

Blockchain in healthcare: five main use cases

Electronic medical record (EMR) management

Dispersed and unorganized patient medical records leave them vulnerable to mismatches and duplications. In addition, EMR databases are constructed on a variety of schemas, making it extremely difficult to combine data. Since entire datasets may be hashed into the decentralized ledger and made searchable by anybody, healthcare institutions can prevent these disparities by embracing blockchain. To put it another way: a user could search up an address and get the same patient information whether there are many addresses or multiple keys.

Remote patient monitoring that’s safe and secure.

It’s imperative that the medical industry implements solutions to protect the huge amounts of sensitive patient data that are being transferred as a result of IoT device proliferation and the COVID-19 pandemic’s increased need for remote healthcare solutions. With the help of blockchain technology, it is possible to develop smart contracts that can analyze medical sensors in an automated and safe manner, as well as create a trail of all data exchanged over the blockchain.

Reduction of medical fraud

It is estimated that by 2020, around $2.6 billion will be wasted yearly due to healthcare fraud. DLT’s non-corruptible nature has been studied in depth by the Journal of Internet Medical Research, which published research on how it could be used in conjunction with AI algorithms to prevent medical fraud. Health insurers can precisely track claim filings and handling in real-time, across different parties, by leveraging blockchain technology. The use of smart claims contracts can generate a complete and consistent audit trail, highlighting any suspicious behavior and helping to reduce fraud.

Savings on clinical trial costs.

The testing and development of novel drugs and treatments, which are now extremely inefficient and expensive, is a critical area of improvement for the medical business. Due to long deadlines for drug studies, inadequate data analysis, a shortage of manpower, and many other problems. Patients, academics, and pharmaceutical companies can all access information simultaneously thanks to blockchain technology. Clinical trial participants can be recruited in a fraction of the time with blockchain-enabled patient/condition matching. These savings would amount to $273 million for a normal ten-year research cycle for pharmaceutical businesses.

Enabling interoperability

When it comes to interoperability, the blockchain has a lot to offer. It makes the process of sharing essential medical information the smoothest it can be. Patients’ electronic medical records (EMRs) can be shared via blockchain in a simple, standardized manner between different healthcare providers or systems. It also reduces administrative costs by preventing delays and streamlining operations.

Wrapping up

A blockchain-based healthcare information system has much more promise than what we’ve outlined here. Blockchain can and is making a substantial difference in healthcare delivery in a variety of other critical applications. When it comes to patient data, the blockchain has a long way to go, even though it has a lot of supporters and opens up a lot of new opportunities for the medical business. Once these issues have been resolved, there will be little to stop the widespread adoption of blockchain software in healthcare. Enroll in blockchain technology training, and get started with your journey. Having a blockchain technology certification will give you more credibility and automatically put you in a better place in the job market.