Imagine paying your medical bills using Satoshi Nakamoto’s digital asset! Yes, it’s true. Universal Health Coin, an anonymous, token based financing system needs your attention.

Universal Health Coin

The use of digital assets in healthcare funding is another innovation coming on the back of the blockchain tech we love so much. It’s an anonymous, token based initiative by a Georgia based startup. This platform uses blockchain technology to decentralize, arbitrage and provide a justified payment for healthcare services using Artificial Intelligence and an established distribution network. Universal health coin has been co-founded by Courtney P Jones and Dr. Gordon Jones.

Universal Health Coin

As per USA statistics alone, the expenditure on healthcare is about 19% of their total GDP. This is almost $10,375 per citizen and a total of about $3.5 trillion. Out of this amount, $800 is spent on administration and $875 in duplicating services.

“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship,” Benjamin Rush, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, quoted in 1786

A large numbers of problems exist in the current healthcare funding systems:

Nominal value for a high cost High cost of administration of healthcare facilities Constant inflation of healthcare cost

Why is there a need for Universal Health Coin?

According to Universal Health Coin, 2 main issues exist in healthcare:

Presence of a large number of middle men: Increasing number of middlemen in every transaction implies that they eat up most of the funds being circulated and this leads to rising costs. Therefore, building a system which eliminates all the unnecessary intermediaries involved in transactions will help reduce the costs. Absence of a free market model: The Lives are at stake when it comes to people’s health. In such a critical industry, the market is highly regulated for both the doctors, nurses, caretakers and the patients. Hence, consumers can’t hold the service providers responsible for the quality, cost and efficacy of the care provided and also, consumers, are not financially motivated enough to “buy-in” to manage their own health.

The Solution

UHC uses cryptoasset and AI based systems to establish direct relationships between healthcare service providers and UHC members. This eliminates the need for a third party, who interfere and lead to upto 35% wastage of patient’s cash. A UHC wallet has been created which includes funds from monthly contributions by individuals to fund the payment of future health services. These wallets function with the cryptoasset Neo.

Their workflow model is shown below.

Universal Health Coin

As a result, the costs involved in healthcare funding, will greatly reduce. As establishment of personal relationships between doctor and patients will take place and fuel the future of the healthcare industry.

Can This Work In India?

Sure it can! India, with its disconnected public health infrastructure, could benefit immensely from such tools. Imagine having your medical records on the blockchain, accessible to any doctor if you go to one anywhere in the country. Of course, this data would be encrypted, and safe. So privacy issues don’t arise. But this would save a lot of money and man hours typically spent in duplicate diagnosis, medication and more!

With Finance Minister Arun Jaitely having committed to promoting blockchain technology on a national government level, these days aren’t too far.

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