Blockchain and Healthcare: A Match Made In Heaven or Hell?
Please keep your hand and feet inside the ride at all times, because this is about to be a wild ride.
Since there is so much great news about crypto lately I thought this would be a good time to discuss the use of blockchain in healthcare…
Before we get into the madness, let's discuss blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a public ledger that can't be altered or is extremely hard to alter. The key strengths are transparency and security. These are two things that are very important in healthcare.
How to use blockchain in healthcare
Patient Records
This is where I see a great use case for blockchain. This can be done by everyone having their own unique key that they can give to the hospital/clinic when their records need to be accessed. The blockchain itself would only hold enough information that proves you are who you say you are, and the records would be stored in the cloud or a remote server somewhere else. This also means that your records can travel with you wherever you go!
Why couldn’t you just do this without the blockchain? You could theoretically, but where the blockchain shines is that you can see who is accessing your data and at what time. Also, the blockchain is immutable, meaning that the records can’t be changed.
Well, that is a little bit of a misnomer, it can be changed but it is extremely difficult to change. It would require a lot of money and computing power. The reason for this is you have multiple nodes verifying the information. So, to change the record one would have to take over the majority of the nodes, which at this time in a decentralized system is almost impossible, or at the least extremely difficult.
The other reason the blockchain would be amazing is smart contracts. A smart contract is exactly what it sounds like. It is a contract with specific parameters that if fulfilled would execute without the need for a third party. These would allow patients to monetize their data. Our data is already being sold to data brokers that sell that data to drug companies, research facilities, etc. This way you would take out the middleman and more importantly the patients would get paid for their data.
Pharmacy
Since I am a pharmacist let's talk about how the blockchain could be invaluable for us. Pharmacy is all about accuracy and transparency. We need to know if the medication is something new or a refill. What were your previous doses? Did you fill them in on time? Well, in most cases, if you’ve never seen this patient before good luck figuring any of that out.
Blockchain can help by creating a universal ledger of the patient's drugs, doses, who prescribed them, and when and where they filled them.
Let's think about this from the perspective of opioids. We need to know the patient’s history with opioids like what they have had and when. Who is prescribing it? Some resources exist that can help with that, but they are state-specific and if you are in one of those states that do not have this you’re going in blind.
Again blockchain is tailor-made for this application. The blockchain is transparent and immutable. Imagine every provider and patient are given a unique identifier and when a script comes through it can be checked back with every fill the patient has had and even every prescription the provider has made. Also, since the identifier is unique to the parties it makes it much harder to make a fake prescription.
Supply Chain
This is a place where blockchain is currently in use. The use of the blockchain is a great way to keep a chain of custody, which is very important in the supply chain. I know I am beating a dead horse here but the fact that the blockchain by its nature is transparent and immutable is perfect for the supply chain. I don’t have much more to say about this so let's move on.
Problems with blockchain in healthcare
Right to be forgotten
There is this law called the “Right To Be Forgotten.” This allows people to have their records deleted permanently. I am sure that you can see why this would be an issue when utilizing the blockchain. The strengths that I was raving about just earlier is the Achilles heel in this instance.
And those strengths are that the blockchain is…
Let’s say it together on 3
1…2…3…
Transparent and immutable!
It is very hard to be forgotten when you are unable to change let alone delete your existence. This can be skirted with having a centralized system, but then that defeats the whole point of the technology in my humble opinion. Also, that takes all the strengths of the technology away.
Learning curve
I am not going to sit here and pretend that our grandparents can understand the blockchain let alone know what it is. With any new idea, there is always a learning curve. The majority of healthcare is utilized by the elderly and getting them to adopt a new way to interact with the system is going to be tough.
Though I think what the pandemic showed us is if we can provide a good user experience that the elderly are more tech-savvy than we give them credit for. This should go without saying that any solution especially when dealing with new technology should have an easy and seamless user experience.
Use cases can be a stretch
One of the biggest reasons the blockchain has not caught on with the public is that the use cases don’t hit us in the face. To people like me, I see the potential, but when I discuss blockchain with normal people (Yes, I admit I am not normal) I get this look followed by a comment like “so why can’t we just have a password?” or “that sounds too complicated.” I really can’t refute them. If the public doesn’t see the value of ownership of their data or transparency, then the idea is dead on arrival.
We have to do a better job of presenting the use cases and more importantly presenting the why. Why should you care about this? Why is this important to you? We need to step outside of our excitement and think about the common person and put ourselves in their shoes. Do not assume people will just figure it out and flock to it.
Trust
Now let's discuss the elephant in the room. This year the blockchain specifically cryptocurrencies has had a terrible year. Grifters and thieves have flocked to it and caused a lot of damage and eroded the trust of people. Many people think that blockchain and cryptocurrency are synonymous. They are not, but many people don’t know that. That is a huge problem for the adoption of the blockchain. Especially in healthcare where we are dealing with extremely sensitive information.
If you are making a solution based on the blockchain you don’t need to mention it. Make it invisible to the normal person. Present it like you have created a healthcare ledger that allows them to own their data and have control over it. Get them excited about the idea and if they figure it out on their own then great. But, most people don’t care “how the sausage is made.” They just want a good experience and something that will bring value to their lives.
Every week I share a random fact about myself. This week’s fact is…
Random fact about me: I built a tandoor oven out of flower pots and it was one of the most amazing things ever!
Thank you so much for your support! Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or leave a comment.
If you enjoyed what you read please consider subscribing and sharing!
I hope you have a great day!