How Web3 and the Metaverse Provides Solutions to Current Healthcare Issues
Web3 and the metaverse are not just for hard-core gamers or cryptocurrency fanatics. This new tech may revolutionize the healthcare system from improved record keeping and privacy to augmented reality surgeries.
For those who do not come from a technical background (like me), understanding and embracing new technology can be difficult. It can be especially tough when personal information such as our medical records are at stake.
Both my academic and work experience are in the medical and scientific fields, so I do not have much of a software background. However, after learning a bit about new technology, such as the development of Web 3.0, blockchain, and the metaverse as a whole, I realized the benefits this new tech can bring to everyone.
It’s not just for the cryptocurrency fanatics or the hard-core gamers. The new iteration of the internet has practically endless applications. One super important benefit of Web3 and the metaverse is how it may change our healthcare system.
What is Web3?
Web3, or Web 3.0, is the third iteration of the internet.
Web 1.0 was the very first stage of the internet, used from around 1991 to 2004, in which pages were static. You couldn’t send files from one computer to another, you needed floppy discs to do this.
Web 2.0 is really what the internet is now. Essentially, Web 2.0 is interactive and collaborative (think Facebook or Twitter) and the content is dynamic — it changes in response to user input (think Google Ads). In Web 2.0, your data is owned by the companies, not you.
Web 3.0 and the metaverse have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare system. Web 3.0 uses technology such as decentralized blockchain to allow users to own their own data. Its most common current uses are cryptocurrency and NFTs.
The metaverse is an immersive virtual world using technologies such as blockchain, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). These technologies may provide solutions to some of the medical field’s most pressing issues.
If you’d like to understand more about the technology behind blockchain, I recommend this video by Simply Explained.
Ok, so what solutions can Web3 provide to our current healthcare issues?
Web3 has the potential to improve many aspects of the healthcare system. Some of the benefits include:
- Patient ownership of medical records
- Improved surgical operations and access to medical experts
- Improved privacy and security of medical data
- Enhanced medical training — without the current ethical issues
Patient Ownership of Medical Records
Ownership of electronic health records (ERHs) is a significant issue in the healthcare sector. Every patient needs their own separate and complete EHR. These become longer and more complicated with each visit to the doctor.
Currently, health records are stored in centralized databases unique to each healthcare institution. These databases are only accessible by the healthcare professionals from that institution.
This causes some problems:
- Patients cannot access or own their own information
- Allowing new doctors access to medical records takes time
- Health data can be collected and sold by data companies
- Medical records exist in duplicate
Patients cannot access or own their own information. Patients should be able to own and access their medical records, after all, it is their personal information. With Web3, health records will be stored in the blockchain. Patients will have a unique key to access the data which belongs to them alone. They will be able to access their health records and allow healthcare professionals of their choosing to access the data¹.
Allowing new doctors access to medical records takes a long time. Currently, in New Zealand, it can take up to a month for doctors to receive your medical records from your previous GP. Allowing new doctors access to medical records will be much faster with Web3. There would be no need to wait for your previous GP to send your records over; you will be able to provide a doctor immediate access. This would improve the quality of care and you will not need to explain your medical history over and over again if you are visiting a new doctor.
Health data can be collected and sold by data companies. Current laws in the USA don’t support patient and doctor privacy by allowing the sale of patient health data. Companies can obtain and sell prescriber-identifiable data as prohibiting this would be a violation of the First Amendment by restricting the right to free speech². Although patient-identifying information is removed, it is still the patient’s data being sold. This would not occur if health records were stored in a decentralized blockchain in which patients had control over accessing the data.
Medical records exist in duplicate. When your medical records are sent to a new health institution, they still exist within the previous system. The more doctors or healthcare professionals you visit, the more systems your medical information is stored on. This gives your medical data a higher risk of a security breach by increasing your risk exposure. If medical records were stored in the blockchain they would be owned by the patient and exist in one copy. Patients will be able to give doctors access to the records without them existing in multiple places.
Improved Surgical Operations and Access To Medical Experts
Technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have the potential to significantly improve surgical operations. VR and AR can provide a 360-degree perspective of a patient’s body and condition. This can help surgeons locate health issues such as tumors. Additionally, this 360-degree view may be accessible to other healthcare professionals through the metaverse, allowing surgical collaboration³.
This surgical collaboration through the metaverse can improve access to necessary healthcare. For example, let’s say a patient needs a surgery that is not typically practiced in their home country. Using AR and VR, the patient’s doctor can provide a 360-degree view of the patient’s body and condition through the metaverse for experts to access. This would enable them to collaboratively build a treatment plan unique to that patient’s specific needs.
Additionally, incorporating AR in surgeries could potentially reduce the operative time and complication rate. AR may also aid surgeons in identifying risks during an operation⁴.
Improved Privacy and Security of Medical Data
With the current technology, the privacy and security of patient data are a significant concern. EHRs are stored in centralized databases. Healthcare institutions that have weak cyber security are at risk of attacks and data leaks.
In September 2022, the personal and health information of 450,000 people was leaked from NZ Pinnacle Midlands Health Network. Other similar leaks occur often all over the world, sometimes affecting millions of people.
These kinds of leaks could not occur with the decentralized storage system of Web3. To be able to tamper with medical information stored in the blockchain, attackers would have to do all of the following¹:
- Tamper with all the blocks on the chain,
- Redo the ‘proof-of-work’ for each of the blocks, and
- Take control of over 50% of the peer-to-peer network.
This would be very difficult for a hacker to do.
By storing medical information in the blockchain, no one will be able to access, sell, tamper with, or misuse your personal data without your permission.
To understand the technology behind this, I recommend watching the blockchain video linked above.
Enhanced Medical Training — Without Current Ethical Issues
The current educational practices for aspiring doctors are viewing and studying 2D videos and images. In some educational institutions, corpses are used for surgical training. However, this comes with ethical issues.
Including VR, AR, and machine learning (ML) in educational practices creates an immersive learning experience using 3D visualization without the ethical issues and other risk factors associated with traditional medical training.
VR and AR can provide a 360-degree perspective of a patient’s body and stimulate real-world procedures⁵. Through the metaverse, students would be able to conduct virtual surgeries and procedures, better preparing them for real-life patients than current educational practices³.
Conclusion
Web3 has the potential to provide solutions to many of the most pressing healthcare issues by:
- Providing patients ownership of their medical information
- Improving surgical operations and access to medical experts
- Improving the privacy and security of medical data
- Enhancing medical training
References
- Zhuang Y, Chen YW, Shae ZY, Shyu CR. Generalizable Layered Blockchain Architecture for Health Care Applications: Development, Case Studies, and Evaluation. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(7):e19029. Published 2020 Jul 27. doi:10.2196/19029
- Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., 564 U.S. 552 (2011)
- Bhattacharya S, Varshney S, Tripathi S. Harnessing public health with “metaverse” technology. Front Public Health. 2022;10:1030574. Published 2022 Dec 1. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1030574
- Heiliger C, Heiliger T, Deodati A, et al. Phantom study on surgical performance in augmented reality laparoscopy [published online ahead of print, 2022 Dec 22]. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2022;10.1007/s11548–022–02809–7. doi:10.1007/s11548–022–02809–7
- Samadbeik M, Yaaghobi D, Bastani P, Abhari S, Rezaee R, Garavand A. The Applications of Virtual Reality Technology in Medical Groups Teaching. J Adv Med Educ Prof. 2018;6(3):123–129.
