Blockchain in Medicine
Blockchain in healthcare, medicine and pharmaceuticals can be used to manage electronic medical records, drug supply chains, to combat counterfeiting, control the distribution of donor organs, conduct clinical and biomedical research, remotely monitor patients, improve insurance and billing procedures, and analyze medical data.
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Main article: Blockchain
Background and Applications of Blockchain in Healthcare
Modern health infrastructure lacks proper mechanisms for sharing health information [1]
In most cases, the patient must independently bring all of his past medical records to the new hospital or take medical tests again. In addition to the obvious inconvenience, the lack of a patient's medical history can lead to incorrect treatment.
Another problem is the lack of comprehensive information about the patient and his medical history. Incomplete patient data can be stored in databases of various hospitals.
Blockchain is at the center of many modern healthcare developments.
This technology offers new approaches to the data storage and management models used today in many healthcare applications. This is due to the blockchain's ability to segment and protect information and share medical data and services in an unprecedented way.
Blockchain-based healthcare innovations can be divided into four tiers: data sources, technology, applications and stakeholders. Below is an illustration of the workflow of blockchain-based healthcare applications.
Areas of application of blockchain in healthcare
Key issues for all stakeholders are the application of blockchain to protect patient data and securely share data. Accelerating data sharing between participants has proved more important to public health authorities, while health facilities focus on strengthening the security of traditional systems and ensuring data sharing between new participants.
Electronic Health Records
Electronic medical records are one of the scenarios for applying blockchain in healthcare.
Blockchain allows you to ensure the invariability of information, trace the origin of data and their safety, as well as use smart contracts. All these characteristics make blockchain a very suitable technology for storing and managing electronic medical records of patients, as well as for sharing such records.
Medical Data Sharing
Blockchain can facilitate the exchange of data between various parties in the field, health care for example, health care providers, researchers and insurance companies. Regulation in some countries prohibits the processing of sensitive personal patient data unless patients give explicit consent. For example, such requirements are contained in the European General Data Protection Regulation (). GDPR Blockchain can allow patients to control how their data is shared, processed and used.
MedRec, a joint blockchain project between MIT Media Lab and Israel's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, empowers patients to monitor their own medical data. Patients can determine for themselves who can access such information.
Other projects that use blockchain for electronic medical records (or have made such an attempt) include Healthcare, Factom, Gem Health Network (GHN), HealthCombix, Patientory, Bowhead, QBRICS, SimplyVital, BurstIQ, Nuco, BlockHIE, FHIRChain, MeDS.
Benefits of blockchain for medical data
- Patient-managed medical records. The patient owns and controls access to his medical data. This removes all barriers to patients obtaining copies of their medical records or transferring them to another health care provider.
- Immutable patient records. Blockchain can ensure that medical data cannot be altered by anyone, including doctors and patients themselves.
- Origin of the data. Medical records are signed by a data source. This allows you to check the validity of records and reject false records.
- Data reliability and availability. Because patient records are stored on a decentralized network, the data is more resistant to loss and hacking.
- Privacy. Electronic medical records are encrypted in the blockchain, they can only be accessed using the patient's private key. Even if an attacker enters the network, it will be impossible or difficult to decrypt data.
Supply chains and counterfeiting
Another scenario for applying blockchain in medicine is supply chain management, as well as counterfeit control. Counterfeit and substandard drugs are a common problem in the pharmaceutical industry. The global counterfeit drug market is estimated at $200 billion. Blockchain is able to solve this problem by ensuring transparency at all stages of the production, supply and sale of medical drugs.
Blockchain unites all stakeholders
The main idea of applying blockchain in medicine to manage supply chains is that each transaction associated with a prescription drug brings together all stakeholders on the blockchain: manufacturers, distributors, doctors, patients and pharmacists. In this case, any changes or attempt to fake the recipe will be immediately revealed.
Fighting counterfeit drugs
In addition to threatening the life and health of patients, counterfeit drugs also pose a reputation threat to pharmaceutical companies, forcing drug manufacturers and distributors to invest in countermeasures.
One way to solve this problem is to record information about pharmaceutical manufacturers, product serial numbers and package numbers on the blockchain. With this data, pharmaceutical companies, drug manufacturers and consumers will be able to verify the authenticity of the data. Such a process ensures inexpensive quality control and tracking of counterfeit goods at all stages of the supply chain.
Distribution of donor organs
For effective organ transplantation, it is necessary to have the consent of the donor, as well as verify the origin of the organs in accordance with the requirements of the regulator. The UAE Ministry of Health has created a donor organ management system on the blockchain, recording donor consent and tracing ancestry.
Clinical and Biomedical Research
Blockchain is capable of revolutionizing medical research. The technology can speed up research, open up access to data, as well as strengthen control over results.
Conducting clinical trials
Blockchain makes it easier to give patients permission to use their data for clinical research.
In addition to information about patient consent, blockchain allows you to store different types of data from different sources: about patient care, about clinical trials, about biomarkers, about the supply chain of pharmaceutical products, and others. The analysis of these disparate data allows to increase the effectiveness of clinical and biomedical research.
Monitoring of study results
Blockchain is able to eliminate data falsification and the exclusion of undesirable results of clinical trials. The invariability property of the blockchain confirms the integrity of the data collected for clinical research.
Benefits of blockchain for medical research
- Improved data sharing. Through a peer-to-peer blockchain architecture, each research institution can retain full control over its computing resources and collaborate with other institutions for data sharing and collaborative analysis.
- Timestamps. Patient generated data has timestamps. This makes medical research more effective.
- Data to confirm. Blockchain solves the issue of the origin of data. This allows you to increase the accuracy of medical research.
- High availability of data. Blockchain can provide continuous real-time data availability. Researchers will be able to quickly detect changes in environmental conditions that affect public health. For example, this will allow earlier detection and containment of epidemics.
- Confidentiality guarantee. Guaranteeing safety and privacy can attract millions of people, health care providers and researchers to share large amounts of data on diet, lifestyle, genetics, health and the environment.
Remote patient monitoring
Remote monitoring refers to the collection of biomedical data using sensors, wearable and mobile devices, as well as their analysis. This allows monitoring of the patient's health outside the hospital. Blockchain is proposed to be used as a way to store and share remotely collected biomedical data.
Blockchain as an infrastructure for data storage IoT
Wearable IoT devices in healthcare are used to monitor fitness, health and wellness. They also allow the patient to share their data with medical professionals.
For example, the development of artificial intelligence technologies will allow health care providers to obtain information about a patient, analyze it, identify deviations and share with those who have the right to access such information.
The infrastructure consists of many data networks and IoT devices, including sensors, sensors, diagnostics, wireless access points, etc. As much of the medical data eventually enters the cloud, security and sensitive data issues arise. In addition, the data may be intercepted or changed during transmission.
Health insurance
Processing insurance claims could be a promising area of application for blockchain in healthcare. All sides of the process can benefit from the transparency, decentralization and immutability of the data stored on the blockchain. Insurers will reduce costs, and beneficiaries will be able to receive reimbursement faster when insured events occur, including through the use of smart contracts.
Blockchain to create a trusted environment in health insurance
The billing process begins from the moment the patient is admitted to the hospital and continues until he is discharged. It includes several stages: patient registration, recording of services provided, transfer of information to the insurer and receipt of insurance compensation. The billing scheme can be complex as some of the services can be paid for by the insurance company and some by the patient.
A key issue with healthcare billing is the lack of transparency and trust between doctors, patients and insurance companies. This can lead to both abuse of patients and insurance scams. Health care insurance scams cost tens of billions of dollars annually.
Blockchain can provide a transparent scheme of interaction, involving all parties in the process and eliminating mistrust. Traditional databases used in healthcare allow information to be modified and deleted. An immutable registry on the blockchain is more suitable for recording important medical data, such as those relating to insurance claims.
Benefits of blockchain for health insurance
- Real-time claims processing. Blockchain will simplify the consideration of claims in real time, excluding intermediaries from the process.
- Detection of fraud. The invariability of the data will make it easier to audit and improve the detection of fraud attempts.
- Data to confirm. The data needed to make decisions is distributed among many participants - patients, medical organizations, insurance companies. Blockchain allows you to combine this data and resolve the issue of confirming it.
- Simplifying access to patient data. All parties involved have access to patient data from several different sources at once.
- Privacy. Blockchain reduces the likelihood of an attacker accessing financial information.
Analysis of medical data
The application of blockchain in medicine is not limited to the processes and methods that exist today. The rapid development of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things technologies will soon require a storage infrastructure that meets advanced security and information control requirements. Blockchain can become part of such an infrastructure, supporting new approaches to the analysis of medical data.
Blockchain for communication of providers and consumers of medical data
Medical research requires the integration of various tools and data sources. For example, these may include sequencing tools, data from electronic medical records, physical activity records obtained from IoT devices, as well as big data tools and deep learning methods.
The main calls include both the lack of a common data format and the difficulty in obtaining them in real time. Blockchain can make it possible to create large amounts of data from various sources and ensure their connection to each other. In addition, the technical capabilities of the blockchain will ensure interaction between data providers and consumers, and will also be able to protect patient privacy and the security of the data itself.
Limitations for blockchain in medicine
The existing limitations of the application of blockchain in medicine include issues of scalability, delay in data transfer, interaction between different systems, data security and privacy.
For example, due to the lack of standards, compatibility issues between different solutions are becoming a problem for storing medical data on the blockchain. Large amounts of medical data lead to slower sharing and limits the limits of scalability.
Blockchain is a young technology. As in other industries, blockchain in healthcare is at an early stage of implementation, best practices have not been formed. In addition, there is a lack of sufficient information regarding economic feasibility, and the cost of solutions is often incomprehensible for customers.
Finally, you need access to the data. At the same time, individual medical institutions are not ready to share data, moreover, not all patients want to manage their own data. The conservatism of the industry and the reluctance of patients to become adherents of new technologies could be the main obstacle to the introduction of blockchain in medicine.
The participants in the health care system themselves include the lack of their own competencies and knowledge of users, as well as the lack of maturity of the technology. It is noteworthy that these questions are more relevant for public health authorities than for medical institutions.
For medical institutions, the issues of regulation and protection of personal data, compatibility with other software and equipment, as well as the problem of distrust on the part of medical personnel are more acute than for government agencies.
2021: How blockchain helps healthcare
On July 18, 2022, Kali Durgampudi, Chief Technology Officer of Zelis, published a report explaining the possibilities of applying blockchain technology in the healthcare sector.
Cyber security violations in hospitals in 2021 reached a record level: as a result of cyber attacks in the healthcare sector, 45 million people will be affected, compared with 34 million in 2020. The number of cyberattacks on health care organizations has tripled since 2018, a trend repeated throughout the healthcare ecosystem. The number of attacks on medical institutions increased by 35% from 2020 to 2021, and the number of attacks on third-party suppliers increased by 18% over the same period of time.
The trend shows no signs of slowing in 2022. In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a warning about a ransomware group targeting the health care ecosystem. The consequences of these attacks can range from stopping hospital operations and redirecting non-emergency patients to losing privacy, disclosing patient data and information, and damaging infrastructure.
One of the technologies that can revolutionize health care and solve these security problems is blockchain technology.
Faster processes: In an industry where fax is still a popular method of sharing information and paper checks are mostly used to pay between insurance companies, hospitals and patients, blockchain offers a much faster alternative. By eliminating the use of outdated and paper systems in favor of electronic methods, blockchain will provide the same transaction speed as in other industries, while they will be safe and traceable.
Secure transactions: As technology continues to evolve and hospital processes become more modern and less paper-centric, cyber attacks will only intensify. Hospitals, insurance companies and healthcare IT organizations need to become safer to protect the privacy of themselves and their patients. Because blockchain technology is decentralized and widespread, it's much harder to spoil, and it provides stronger protection for patient information, insurance claims transactions and more.
Traceability and reliability: Many health care facility leaders choose not to share important information via email, as there is no evidence of receiving it, and letters can mistakenly fall into a spam folder or become stuck in an inbox. To combat this problem, blockchain technology provides evidence of delivery, acquisition and discovery, providing a traceable and reliable exchange of information and removing barriers to making payments. After the operation, the sending of the message cannot be canceled or returned back thanks to the blockchain distribution network, which reflects changes in real time.
However, there are two main obstacles preventing the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in hospitals and medical organizations. The first is that health care is known to be slow to adopt new technologies. This will not only require the healthcare industry to change operational processes and infrastructure, but also individual healthcare organizations. The transition to blockchain adoption will be an important step for the industry, which continues to experience difficulties with the exchange of information in electronic form and the use of disparate IT systems.
Another important point is the lack of a supplier from which medical organizations could "buy" blockchain. This is a completely new technology that requires building an infrastructure from scratch. Payment applications and APIs that will use blockchain technology should be developed, and when it becomes more user-friendly, the technology could be more widely distributed.[2]
2019: IBM creates blockchain ecosystem for healthcare
In late January 2019, IBM announced the creation of a blockchain ecosystem for healthcare in collaboration with U.S. insurers Aetna, Anthem and Healthcare Service Corporation (HCSC), as well as major financial corporation PNC Bank.
The aim of the project is to increase the transparency of processes and interoperability of various technologies applied in the healthcare industry. Blockchain technologies should help developers create a secure common environment for data transfer. If their efforts are successful, this, according to the creators, will reduce the number of administrative errors and allow more efficient exchange of information between systems and institutions.
Blockchain, which enables secure data registration and transfer between multiple users, is capable of solving a number of challenges facing healthcare organizers. The creators of the project consider blockchain as a tool for establishing trust ties, since the transparency and security of all processes can completely change the dynamics of relations within the industry. Ultimately, such a network can overcome the fragmentation of data in health care, which, according to Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of HCSC Steve Betts, may be the key to expanding technical knowledge, as well as understanding the means and opportunities available to provide quality and affordable health care services.
The financial corporation PNC, in turn, is attracted by the opportunity to meet the market requirements for transparency and security of transactions. Combining health care organizations and IBM will facilitate payment transactions for both patients and health care providers, as well as reduce administrative costs.[3]
2018: Launch of the world's first blockchain neonatal registration system
At the end of February 2019, it became known about the work of the world's first blockchain system for registering newborns. It was launched in Tanzania back in mid-2018, but information about it hit the press only eight months later. Read more here.
2017
IBM develops project to transfer medical data via blockchain
In October 2017, a network of American state Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed an agreement with IBM Watson Health to conduct research on the use of blockchain technology for storing and sharing medical data, the portal said CoinDesk.com.
According to IBM Research Director Shahram Ebadollahi, the agreement was a continuation of IBM's joint research program with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since the beginning of 2017. The above program is testing a blockchain platform that will optimize the distribution of electronic medical records, clinical trial results and patient health information collected from portable devices.
Blockchain is very useful when there are many actors in the system. This allows the data ecosystem in healthcare to be more fluid, and artificial intelligence allows us to extract information from that data. Everyone talks about big data in healthcare, but I suppose long data is more important, "says Shahram Ebadulai. |
According to him, the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare will allow consumers to purchase home medical systems as easily as home security systems.
Innovative information technology is no stranger to the CDC: This institution, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and responsible for preventing and responding to disease outbreaks, demonstrated technology to find effective collection of critical data during crisis situations at a technology exhibition.[4]
Costs of $44.6 million for blockchain technologies in healthcare
In early February 2019, P&S Intelligence presented a report on blockchain technologies in the healthcare sector and highlighted several trends in the development of this sector.
In 2017, the cost of it amounted to $44.6 million, and analysts believe that the budget for blockchain technologies will only grow in the future. The annual growth rate is expected to be 67.1%, so that by 2023 the cost of such developments in health care will reach $890.5 million. This growth is due to strict consumer data protection rules, increased funding and investment in the blockchain sector, as well as with the great adoption of blockchain technologies in general.
Blockchain in the healthcare market is used to share clinical data, work with accounts, manage the supply chains of drugs, as well as for their development and clinical research. Blockchain technologies are able to completely transform the way clinical information is obtained and stored, as well as the exchange of data between partners, payers and patients. In addition, the application of blockchain ensures the security and safety of data, which is of great importance for protecting privacy.
The maximum growth rate of blockchain technologies in healthcare is expected in the Asia-Pacific region. The local head growth during 2018-2023, according to analysts, will be more than 70.0%. The latter is explained by the growing attention to blockchain technologies in this region, as well as the need for safe and mutually beneficial exchange of clinical data.[5]
Companies interested in implementing blockchain technologies are partnering with various suppliers to explore potential uses. The largest developers of blockchain technologies for healthcare include the following companies:
- IBM;
- Microsoft;
- Accenture;
- Hashed Health;
- iSolve;
- Patientory.
IBM and FDA announce blockchain technology development
On January 11, 2017, IBM Corporation and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a collaboration to develop blockchain technology used to securely share medical data. Read more here. Read more here.
Notes
- ↑ Mindsmith's Blockchain in Health, Medicine and Pharmaceuticals Review (Mindsmith).
- ↑ The Potential Of Blockchain Technology To Address Healthcare’s Biggest Challenges
- ↑ Aetna, Anthem, Health Care Service, PNC Bank and IBM collaborate on healthcare blockchain 'ecosystem'
- ↑ CDC to Trial Blockchain With IBM in Bid to Manage Medical Data
- ↑ Blockchain in Healthcare Market to Reach $890.5 million by 2023: P&S Intelligence