The healthcare industry has seen a lot of disruption due to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It started a few years back when a US-based company called MedRec began experimenting with blockchain technology to store patients’ medical records digitally.
This move made it possible for patients to have access to their records from anywhere in the world while at the same time being confident that it would be securely encrypted.
Then in 2017, a company called Santuario came up with its own ‘blockchain-based Electronic Health Record Sharing Solution,’ which was designed to facilitate secure and instantaneous sharing of health records across all healthcare providers involved in the patient’s treatment.
In addition, blockchain technology has made it possible to store these records in an unalterable manner, which means that they cannot be changed.
You can click the below image to create your free crypto trading account.
10 ways by which the healthcare industry is disrupted by bitcoin in India:
The medical industry is one of the most regulated industries in any country. It has its own set of rules by which it functions, and every new technology needs to be tested before being approved for use. However, blockchain technology is still new enough to have very few regulations governing its use.
Many large hospitals have started looking into using the blockchain to store patients’ medical records and maintain a ledger of their entire treatment history. This helps them ensure that they do not prescribe medicines that could hurt other medications being taken by the patient.
The Healthcare industry has been plagued by cases of medical data stolen from large hospital chains. Blockchain technology ensures that medical data is stored in a manner that makes it almost impossible to alter the data without being detected, making it highly secure.
The purchase of various medical products has been made complicated due to several intermediaries being involved in the process, each charging their fees for providing this service. This issue is one which most customers are not happy with. Using blockchain technology would enable patients to purchase medical products directly from the manufacturers without going through several layers of intermediaries before using them.
Blockchain was designed as a decentralized system, one of its biggest strengths. Almost everything that can be decentralized will be in the future, and blockchain technology will likely disrupt several other industries in the coming years.
User privacy has always been a massive concern for most medical products or services users. Blockchain technology makes it possible to store all medical records through highly encrypted codes, which would only be accessible by the patient using his private key.
In many countries, hospitals have to store all the patient records for several years, even after completing their treatment. This has been one of the biggest drains on space that most large hospital chains face today. Using blockchain technology would allow them to store these records more effectively.
Large corporations are using data from healthcare as one of the many factors that influence their decision to enter into a new market or not. This makes it highly valuable and ensures that the data will be the target of several cyberattacks which have been on the rise over the past few years.
Using blockchain technology would make it possible for patients to control their treatment in a much easier manner while at the same time being confident that it would be securely encrypted.
Blockchain technology enables large companies to store their data in a highly secure manner, ensuring that the information will not be used for any purpose other than what is authorized. This makes it one of the best ways for storing sensitive data which could otherwise be used against the company’s interests.
Conclusion:
From the above points, it is clear that blockchain technology can play a significant role in improving efficiency within the healthcare industry.
Blockchain technology’s ability to store data without any central authority having access could revolutionize how patients interact with their doctors for diagnosis and prescription purposes.
The decentralized nature of blockchain technology will reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and data thefts since no single entity would have access to all the information. This would ensure that the patient is confident about his privacy and confidentiality while also having complete control over his medical records.
