Basically, Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that stores data dynamically. The data stored here is credible, securely stored, and immutable.
Blockchain abilities are instinctively unique and because of that, they will be applicable to any industry it was thrown to. The chief applications of blockchain include cryptocurrency, finance, gaming, travel, asset management, education, etc.
The one important application that I missed in this list but you can see in the title of this blog is Healthcare. Yes, it is the foremost application of blockchain technology that benefits and saves millions of people with its unbreakable storage system.
In healthcare itself, blockchain has many sub-applications that possess extensive benefits and advantages. Exactly five of them are detailly discussed in this blog.
Medicine transfer chain tracking
Supply chain transparency is the best application of blockchain in healthcare. This blockchain-based system is to track medicine’s condition from the production point to the end user point. This allows customers to track the visibility and status of the medicine.
So it will prevent the description of counterfeit medicine to the patient and the deaths due to that. Blockchain-based traction can also be done for the transfer of medical equipment to prevent it from theft and missing. This tracking system helps medical device manufacturers and pharmacists to streamline the production and transfer operations according to the regulations. Also, the demand and supply of medicine can be optimized accordingly.
A secured electronic record of health
This Blockchain-based storage system can be used in recording the enormous data registered in healthcare monitoring. The blockchain solution will provide a single space where anyone in the specific healthcare network can update and share data with each other.
It will securely store the data in a standardized manner with encrypted links. So that the unauthorized person cannot enter or steal the data.
Accurate data for research
The electronic health record allows people in the network to create, update and share data in the network. Where this data can be organized into a series of information and can be used for future research.
Researchers and reputed medical organizations can rely on this wide data to explore dark and new-age diseases and find medicine for them. Also, it aids clinical research and will stay as a reference for complex medical issues, documentation, and health reporting.
Patient data: secured and encrypted
More than data storage, preventing the stored data from hacks is a great deal. To do that, Blockchain development greatly helps.
Changing patient details illegally leads to wrong medicine advice and even to patient deaths like when 176+ million patient records were tampered with between 2009 to 2017. where the bad men have stolen the financial credentials and used them in an illegal way.
Situations like this can be prevented if the blockchain is there. Because it is a tamper-proof and distributed network that helps in storing and accessing patient data in a more secure way.
Credential Verification of medical staff
Besides supply chain tracking and patient data record, Blockchain solution in healthcare is helpful in tracking the experience of medical professionals with the stored data. This aids medical organizations in hiring verified doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. Thus making the hiring process fast, easy, and efficient.
Benefits of blockchain technology in healthcare
- It allows doctors in different locations to access the same data and make decisions on diagnosis
- The healthcare will be stored in a decentralized system that can’t be hacked or tampered
- Easy and fast medical credentialing
- Stores data can be used in future research, diagnosis, and drug innovation
- Dedicatedly track the medicine supply and demand
- Aid in recruiting properly educated and experienced medical professionals
- Aids in documentation with its immutable trait
- Many opportunities were given to insurers to record the insurance details using smart contract
- More importantly, the cost is reduced by eliminating intermediaries.
Challenges of Blockchain development in healthcare
- Some of the private and confidential data that are only accessible to the top-grade professional cannot be stored in the public blockchain as it will be distributed to all the nodes in the network.
- Even though the blockchain is a secured system, it is vulnerable to some kind of attacks.
- Since blockchain is immutable, the data that need changes often have to be kept out of the storage system.
Due to some drawbacks, the abilities of blockchain cannot be completely ignored. Because its benefits are high enough to hide the drawbacks. Maybe in the future, these challenges can also be changed into opportunities.
The Final Verdict
Thus far the application, benefits, and challenges of the blockchain in Healthcare are discussed. From the blog, it is clear that blockchain is gonna become an undeniable asset for the healthcare industry. Not only in Healthcare but also in places wherever a robust data record system is needed.
Hence if you are a person really interested in integrating blockchain with your business, stop hesitating and just go for it. Like how the implementation of blockchain is important, it is also significant to implement it correctly with reliable software.
So to build such a reliable one, just get help from a leading blockchain development company in the market. They will develop the best software for you that works great along with your business objective to generate more profit and improvements.