We have heard a lot of talk about Blockchain over the last few years in reference to technology and how it can revolutionise data collection, storage, and information sharing.
Blockchain can be viewed as a set of data that remains in place with somewhat of a time stamp. When other data is added, the information around the first set remains undisturbed, and subsequent data is stamped with its own time-and-placement information. What this does is prevent information tampering, no matter what device on which the information is accessed, and provides a comprehensive log of everything that is included in the database in a systematic way.
As the name suggests, we can think of it as a chain whose links increase based on the data added – each piece of data would be considered a link in the chain.
Blockchain was first used when the cryptocurrency era emerged as a way to enable safe and secure data storage and tracking but has since been applied to several disciplines. Healthcare is one such industry. The need for privacy, accuracy, and trust in healthcare data makes it a major candidate for the use of Blockchain to achieve secure, accurate, and chronologically maintained in formation.
One of the most obvious ways in which Blockchain can be applied to healthcare is through the electronic medical records (EMR) as a way of maintaining the integrity of patient data. The objective, at least for some healthcare visionaries, to decentralise the EMR so that it can be accessed by any of the patient’s physicians, anywhere in the world, makes it an apt candidate for Blockchain technology. This is because it would be difficult for any one person to tamper with the records or change anything previously put in place. In short, there would have to be accountability and easy tracking, which augers well for the veracity of patient’s health history and overall care.
