Transforming Healthcare Data Management with MedChain
How often do you think about potential health problems when scheduling your vacation? We’ll guess ‘not often, or not at all.’ Recent headlines show travelers at sea and in the air aren’t immune to emergencies.
What is the best-case scenario if you’re in need of healthcare while traveling? Here’s how we see it: Upon arrival at the local hospital, you’d check in, verify your information, giving the ER doctor access to your digital medical records; the doctor would quickly know about any pre-existing conditions or drug allergies. Diagnostic activities like x-rays and treatments such as stitches or IVs would be noted on your digital file. The ER doctor would arrange follow-ups with your primary physician, who can access your file when you get home. As you’re discharged, the ER doctor sends the medical bill to your ‘file’, which automatically bills your insurance company on their behalf. You can focus on recovery and getting back to your travels.
This is the future of healthcare with the blockchain governed distributed storage technology being developed by MedChain.
Advantages of Blockchain Technology in Healthcare
Blockchain technology can do more than help during away-from-home ER visits. It also provides:
Structured, longitudinal patient history
Your medical history — visits, illnesses, lab results, blood pressuring monitoring, prescriptions — across doctor’s offices, hospitals, and maybe even your Fitbit data — can be stored in a single location. This wealth of data gives your healthcare provider more comprehensive understanding of the care you need.
A master patient index
There are 2.5 million people named ‘Smith’ in the U.S. Even if your name is less common, healthcare records can get mismatched. And the system your primary care physician uses to store your data may differ from the system used by your cardiologist, making it difficult to get your records organized. With MedChain’s blockchain, all your data is ‘sharded’ across the Storage Network then hashed to a searchable ledger — so no matter how your record is searched, physicians would be directed to your information.
Interoperability
This $10 word has priceless value to healthcare providers. Interoperability means different information systems and software applications can communicate, exchange data, and use the information that has been shared — across physicians, labs, hospitals and pharmacies. MedChain leverages blockchain technology to deliver interoperability, giving authorized providers secure and standardized access.
Controlled Access, Controlled Prescriptions
Utilizing Smart Contracts we can segment access to authorized parties and keep an ongoing record of updates and modification to a patient’s file. This same feature can allow providers to monitor and control prescriptions of medications.
Claims Resolution
Because blockchain exchanges are trustlessly validated, medical claim verification can become an automated process. The absence of a central ‘clearing house’ will help reduce errors or fraudulent claims.
When you’re in a doctor’s office or hospital, you’re focused on getting the care you need to address your medical problems. You shouldn’t have to double check the accuracy of your medical records. We understand — that’s why MedChain is paving the way for an evolved Electronic Record Management system that provides the best solution for patients and healthcare providers.
