Blockchain in healthcare is used for everything from securing patient data to managing the pharmaceutical supply chain.
And it couldn’t come at a better time: The United States spent almost 20 percent of its GDP on healthcare in 2021, and spending is likely to increase as high hospital costs, inefficient practices and constant data breaches continue to plague the industry. These expensive problems are spurring a drive for greater efficiency and innovation.
How Can Blockchain Be Used in Healthcare?
Blockchain’s distributed ledger technology facilitates the secure transfer of patient medical records, strengthens healthcare data defenses, manages the medicine supply chain and helps healthcare researchers unlock genetic code.
With its ability to deflate the current spending bubble, protect patient data and improve the overall healthcare experience, using blockchain in healthcare may help ease the pain. The technology is already being used to do everything from securely encrypting patient data to managing the outbreak of harmful diseases.
These 17 examples of blockchain in healthcare are creating a more seamless experience for patients and healthcare professionals alike.
Blockchain Healthcare Companies to Know
- Akiri
- BurstIQ
- Medicalchain
- Guardtime
- Avaneer Health
- ProCredEx
- Coral Health
- Patientory
- Chronicled
- Embleema
Blockchain and Healthcare Data Security
Keeping medical data safe and secure is the most popular blockchain healthcare application at the moment, which isn’t surprising. Security is a major issue in the healthcare industry. There were 692 large healthcare data breaches reported between July 2021 and June 2022. The perpetrators stole credit card and banking information, as well as health and genomic testing records.
Blockchain’s ability to keep an incorruptible, decentralized and transparent log of all patient data makes it a technology ideal for security applications. Additionally, while blockchain is transparent, it is also private, concealing the identity of any individual with complex and secure codes that can protect the sensitivity of medical data. The decentralized nature of the technology also allows patients, doctors and healthcare providers to share the same information quickly and safely.
Ways Blockchain Can Secure Health Data
- Decentralized data logs that are incorruptible and transparent
- Complex codes that protect individuals’ identities and data
- Quick transfers that reduce the window in which data is vulnerable
Check out how these four companies apply blockchain to healthcare security.
Location: Bagsværd, Denmark
With a century of experience, pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk follows a rigorous research and testing process to ensure the effectiveness and safety of its treatments before making them available to patients worldwide.
By implementing the Electronic Patient Interactive Device, or ePID, into clinical trials, Novo Nordisk aims to make patient data collection both more convenient and more secure. Software engineers at the company have implemented blockchain technology into ePID’s data collection capabilities to ensure medical information isn’t breached or altered in any way, thereby securing the integrity of the clinical trial process.
Location: Foster City, California
Akiri operates a network-as-a-service optimized specifically for the healthcare industry, helping protect transportation of patient health data. The Akiri system does not store data of any kind. It operates as both a network and a protocol to set policies and configure data layers while verifying the sources and destinations of data in real time.
Akiri ensures healthcare data remains secure and shareable with only the parties authorized for access at the moment when they need it.
Location: Denver, Colorado
BurstIQ’s platform helps healthcare companies safely and securely manage massive amounts of patient data. Its blockchain technology enables the safekeeping, sale, sharing or licensing of data while maintaining strict compliance with HIPAA rules.
Because BurstIQ’s platform includes complete and up-to-date information about patients’ health and healthcare activity, it could help to root out abuse of opioids or other prescription drugs.
Location: London, England
Medicalchain’s blockchain maintains the integrity of health records while establishing a single point of truth. Doctors, hospitals and laboratories can all request patient information that has a record of origin and protects the patient’s identity from outside sources.
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Guardtime is helping healthcare companies and governments implement blockchain in their cybersecurity methods. The company was vital in helping implement blockchain in Estonia’s healthcare systems, and it signed a deal with a private healthcare provider in the United Arab Emirates to bring blockchain to its data privacy systems.
Blockchain Medical Records
Waste from factors like failure of care delivery and failure of care coordination is responsible for up to 16 percent of national healthcare spending in the U.S.
The time-consuming process of obtaining access to a patient’s medical records exhausts staff resources and delays patient care. Blockchain-based medical records offer a cure for these ills.
The decentralized nature of the technology creates one ecosystem of patient data that can be efficiently referenced by doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and anyone else involved in treatment. In this way, the blockchain can lead to better diagnoses and personalized care plans.
These four companies embrace the concept of blockchain medical records to create shared databases and personalized health plans.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Avaneer is a company backed by Aetna, Anthem, Cleveland Clinic and other healthcare leaders that is dedicated to using blockchain technology to improve healthcare efficiency. Avaneer uses a public ledger to support better claims processing, secure healthcare data exchanges and keep provider directories maintained and up-to-date.
Location: Tampa, Florida
ProCredEx has created a distributed ledger of healthcare credentials data that boosts complex dataset efficiency by rendering the data immutable and permanently traceable. It allows data to be curated to meet unique organizational requirements and shared with authorized partners.
The platform uses proprietary validation engines and restricts memberships to vetted and approved organizations so health systems can rapidly acquire verified credentials and promote patient safety and care quality.
Location: New York, New York
Coral Health uses blockchain to accelerate the care process, automate administrative processes and improve health outcomes. By inserting patient information into distributed ledger technology, the company connects doctors, scientists, lab technicians and public health authorities quicker than ever. Coral Health also implements smart contracts between patients and healthcare professionals to ensure data and treatments are accurate.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Patientory’s end-to-end encryption ensures that patient data is shared safely and efficiently. The company’s platform enables patients, healthcare providers and clinicians to access, store and transfer all important information via blockchain. Patientory helps the healthcare industry move more quickly by housing all patient information under one roof.
Blockchain and Medical Supply Chain Management
How much do we really know about our medicine? Can we be sure it hasn’t been tampered with? Is it coming from a legitimate supplier? These questions are the primary concerns of the medical supply chain, or the link between the lab and the marketplace.
Blockchain has serious implications for pharmaceutical supply chain management, and its decentralization virtually guarantees full transparency in the shipping process. Once a ledger for a drug is created, it will mark the point of origin. The ledger will then continue to record data every step of the way, including who handled it and where it has been, until it reaches the consumer. The process can even monitor waste emissions.
Here are six companies using blockchain to rethink the medical supply chain.
Location: San Francisco, California
Chronicled builds blockchain networks that demonstrate chain-of-custody. The networks help pharma companies make sure their medicines arrive efficiently, and they enable law enforcement to review any suspicious activity — like drug trafficking. Chronicled also created the Mediledger Project, a ledger system dedicated to the safety, privacy and efficiency of medical supply chains.
Location: New York, New York
Embleema is a virtual trial and regulatory analytics platform designed to fast track drug development. Users are recruited to digitally consent to secure, untampered medical data collection, which is then stored on Embleema’s blockchain and analyzed.
Embleema’s platform allows patients to assist in speeding up treatment availability and improving safety, all through the company’s Virtual Studies Suite.
Location: Paris, France
Blockpharma offers a solution for drug traceability and counterfeiting. By scanning the supply chain and verifying all points of shipment, the company’s app lets patients know if they are taking falsified medicines With the help of a blockchain-based supply chain management system, Blockpharma says it helps to weed out the 15 percent of all medicines in the world that are fake.
Location: San Francisco, California
Tierion’s blockchain audits documents, records and medicines to keep a clear history of possession. The company uses timestamps and credentials to maintain proof of ownership throughout a medical supply chain.
Location: Los Angeles, California
SoluLab offers services to support companies with blockchain application development. For the healthcare industry in particular, SoluLab’s solutions can help to determine the authenticity of drugs and medical data by tracing their origin, as well as encrypting data.
Location: London, England
FarmaTrust’s blockchain solutions have applications for tracking pharmaceuticals, determining the authenticity of medical devices, and maintaining data security for patients scheduling vaccinations and diagnostic testing. The company’s services help to keep fake drugs out of the supply chain, for example, while also offering an app that lets consumers check whether medicines are genuine.
Breakthroughs in Genomics
The potential of genomics to improve the future of human health, once a dream, is now a scientific and financial reality. Genome sequencing could cost between $100 million and $1 billion in 2001, but expenses fell to below $1,000 in 2021.
Blockchain is a perfect fit for this growing industry as it can safely house billions of genetic data points. It’s even become a marketplace where people can sell their encrypted genetic information to create a wider database, giving scientists access to valuable data faster than ever before.
These three companies use blockchain to help us better understand the most basic building blocks of human life.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Acquiring doc.ai in 2021, Sharecare has capitalized on its enhanced engineering expertise and developed a decentralized research platform. The Smart Omix platform makes it easy for researchers to prototype, revise and launch mobile studies. In addition to housing patient records, Smart Omix allows researchers to collect patient data via wearable devices and offers features like e-consent for a faster research process.
Location: San Francisco, California
Nebula Genomics is using distributed ledger technology to eliminate unnecessary spending and middlemen in the genetic studying process. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies spend billions of dollars each year acquiring genetic data from third parties. Nebula Genomics is helping to build a giant genetic database and incentivize users to safely sell their encrypted genetic data.
Location: New York, New York
The EncrypGen Gene-Chain is a blockchain-backed platform that facilitates the searching, sharing, storage, buying and selling of genetic information. The company protects its users’ privacy by allowing only other members to purchase genetic information using safe, traceable DNA tokens. Member companies can use the genetic information to build upon their genetic knowledge and advance the industry.