Healthcare Data Storage Will be Revolutionized by Blockchain

The state of medical record storage lacks the privacy that people deserve. Blockchain can add transparency, accountability, and auditing to a clouded, controversial system that is in dire need of improvement.

It’s easier to access medical records now than ever before. That means medical records are exposed to more risk by digital hackers and even hospital personnel. People are scared to have their medical records stored digitally because those records can be exposed and stolen through cyberattacks or by thieves masquerading as health care professionals.

Groundbreaking blockchain tech has been transforming industries from genomics to real estate. That same technology can also be used to resolve privacy issues within the healthcare industry. This is going to be huge for data and electronic storage.

Users will gain control over their own data in this digital future where data storage is no longer stolen and misused by companies like Facebook.

Currently, data is being stolen from individuals whose data is preyed on, often without them knowing.

One such example happened at Hofstra University where a medical technician violated HIPPA by logging onto a portal and accessing patients’ information with a malevolent intention. She sold the data to a third party company in exchange for thousands of dollars.

The technician was found guilty and had to serve time in a half-way house in addition to paying thousands of dollars worth of fines. That was a health professional who was supposed to be trusted.

Blockchain can eliminate the possibility of human-based data interception because data entry will eventually be left to devices that can both record and send health metrics to databases.

Beyond being in control of data, people will soon be able to monetize specific healthcare data points.

Blockchain can help people monetize their data at a granular level. It can be the everyday person’s defense against Big Tech companies like Alphabet Inc. and Facebook, who sell our data for billions of dollars a year. Data has already surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable resource. Your data is mined, stored, sold, sharded, and packaged. Big Tech gets money for this data, but blockchain allows individuals to get it instead.

For example, if a company is researching BMI, you can be given the option to allow researchers a one-time-access to your BMI record in your electronic data storage file. You can get paid for your information. Then the access is no longer granted after the one-time usage is done. Time-based data usage models also exist.

What does data security look like on blockchain?

You are the gatekeeper of your medical record on an electronic data platforms of the future. Each piece of data can be looked at as being behind a door with a cryptographic lock. If you want any component within the file, you simply unlock it, and then you open the door. A third-party service can gain access to it and they will pay you money for it. You can limit the file to only be accessed that one time.

Why would people want to pay for your specific data points? Scientific research is a multi-billion dollar industry that relies on current statistics and information to check research findings against.

For example, a researcher may look to compare heart rates in smokers versus nonsmokers. You may choose to have your heart rate from a recent doctor’s visit included in the findings, which you can then monetize and make it viewable to researchers.

You choose to open your data door and allow your information to be shared on the blockchain with those researchers. Then close your data door when it’s done.

Another major issue in the health care industry that blockchain technology can tackle is inaccuracy in data entry.

According to research published in the journal Perspectives in Clinical Research, one of the largest issues in electronic data storage is errors in entering data into the system. Medical personnel often rely on copying and pasting information, a technique that encounters transferability problems across different information systems.

ioT and BioTech, combined.

When ioT devices make full headway into mass adoption, this could get really interesting. Can you imagine a device that reads your heart rate, then submits the data directly into your personalized, encrypted data file? The file would be encrypted so you would be able to safely know that only that the only person who can access the file is you.

Even if you gave a third-party organization access to your file when you monetize it, you wouldn’t have to give them the equivalent of your passsword. If we could leave data entry to ioT, then human error would be taken away and the only person who ever reads your information would be you and the medical personnel who’ve been hired to take care of you.

Auditing trails of data record keeping can be further enhanced by blockchain. Due to the technology’s ability to bring transparency and accountability to every industry, the health care industry will tremendously benefit by having what can be thought of a digital bread crumb trail tracking any and all access to your information.

Imagine being able to see exactly when your doctor looked at your health care records and if any changes were made? This could be especially helpful if you are undergoing a lot of tests, say after initial diagnosis of an illness. Health care professionals would be constantly updating and checking your health care record. However, if there were an open ledger or audit trail of information of these changes, similiar to the way Google Docs tracks live changes to be made on its platform, then you can know exactly who changed something if an error occured.

Again, blockchain embeds transparency and accountability into an industry that it touches. Health care would be no exception and would benefit tremendously. Electronic data storage would get a much-needed update and be catapulted into web 3.0 to embrace for the future mass adoption of blockchain technology.

BountBase is a virtual currency marketer & content creator that connects coin development teams with the larger blockchain community. You can follow us on Twitter @BountyBase

>>>Want to read more?<<<

My dream is to blog full time, please consider a small ETH donation:

0xac48c872d99f8d2c5cace6ee57cedc9e2019f99d

BountBase is a virtual currency marketer & content creator that connects coin development teams with the larger blockchain community. You can follow us on Twitter @BountyBase.

Thank you for reading. Please share with your friends on social media